The son of late-night talk show pioneer Larry Finley, Finley grew up in the Los Angeles, California, area where many of his childhood friends were the children of celebrities. At a young age, he decided to pursue a music career.[1] He became the first white soft rock artist signed to the Motown Records label. While never achieving commercial success as a recording artist, several of his songs were recorded by popular artists including Diana Ross, the Jackson 5, and Debby Boone in the 1970s. He also composedscores for a number of motion pictures and TV shows. In spite of this growing good fortune early in his professional life, Finley has said he still felt something was missing in his personal life. Seeking to fill this void, he abandoned his music career and left for India and the Far East in 1979 to study spiritual teachings and the principles of self-awareness.[2]
Writing career and teachings
By the early 1980s, Finley's search for spiritual awakening had led him back to the United States where he became a devoted student of spiritual teacher Vernon Howard at the New Life Foundation in Boulder City, Nevada. In the early 1990s, he began a new career as an author of spiritual guidance books.[3]
In addition to his writing, Finley teaches inner-life classes at the Life of Learning Foundation in Merlin, Oregon, a non-profit organization of which he is founder and director. He also speaks at conferences and is a frequent interview guest on radio and the internet.
