Houstonian a 1980s self-help icon
John Bradshaw did not coin the terms “inner child” or “dysfunctional family,” but the motivational speaker and self-help icon of the 1970s and ’80s popularized them through his best-selling books and popular television programs.
Bradshaw, a lifelong Houston resident, died Sunday from heart failure. He was 82, his son John Jr. said Monday.
On his own website, Bradshaw acknowledged being born in 1933 into a “troubled family” and abandoned by his alcoholic father. He later became an academic standout but had his own struggles with alcohol and drugs.
“Part of his charm was, he was totally authentic. He revealed the worst and the best of himself,” his son said.
A gifted academic, Bradshaw had planned to join an order of Catholic priests known as the Congregation of St. Basil, better known as the Basilian Fathers. Instead, shortly before his ordination, Bradshaw returned to Houston and began teaching at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School.
“He was gifted but perhaps not the most reliable of their young novitiates,” his son said.
No longer bound by priestly rules, Bradshaw continued to dabble with drugs and alcohol; he eventually married a divorced Protestant woman.
John Bradshaw Jr. was born a few years later, after his father had gotten sober and begun attending Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church at 6221 Main St.
Bradshaw taught Sunday school there, used his education to practice as a therapist and began speaking at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Bradshaw’s skill as a motivational speaker began to spread through Houston. In the mid-1970s, Bradshaw was hosting a TV talk show on what is now WB39. That led to a national PBS series called “Bradshaw on the Family.”
Bradshaw wrote a series of best-selling books and was a guest on virtually every TV talk show at the time — from Phil Donahue to Oprah and everyone in between.
“There was this amazing synergy. A book would come out, and then the PBS station would show the series, and then a week later he would come to town and do a workshop,” his son said.
He was also an unofficial adviser to his friend Steven Spielberg for “Hook,” his 1991 retelling of the Peter Pan story.
Although the self-help craze eventually subsided, Bradshaw continued working — giving programs and writing books on topics like “Post Romantic Stress Disorder.”
Throughout his life, Bradshaw always enjoyed meeting people who say they developed emotionally or learned some inner truth as a result of one of his books or programs.
“To him, that validated his work,” his son said.
But he was also a lot of fun, his son recalled. He would often come home and grab a carton of Blue Bell ice cream from the freezer.
“He’d just sit there and eat it,” his son said. “When you’re a kid and you have a dad that’s so unrestrained — almost childlike himself — it was often a lot of fun.”
“He was a big personality in everything he did.”
Besides his son, Bradshaw is survived by his second wife, Karen Mabray Bradshaw; another son, Brad Isaacs; daughters Brenda Isaacs Booth and Ariel Harper Bradshaw; niece Katie Bradshaw; and several grandsons and great-nephews.
Visitation for f amily and close friends will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Bradshaw-Carter Funeral Home, 1734 W. Alabama. The funeral service will be 10 a.m. Saturday the Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks.