THE GURDJIEFF YEARS: 1929–1949
Recollections of Louise Goepfert March
Annabeth McCorkle

Louise Goepfert March was G. I. Gurdjieff’s student, secretary, and the translator of the German edition of his magnus opus, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson. Her association with him lasted from 1929 until his death in 1949. She devoted the rest of her life to the transmission of his teaching.

In the months preceding her death in 1987, Louise March worked with Annabeth McCorkle to produce this first-hand account of her years with George Ivanovich Gurdjieff. Here in stunning glimpses, Gurdjieff’s ideas are discovered at work in the formation of a life dedicated to the search for Truth.

The narrative renders boldly and in rich detail Louise Goepfert’s first meeting with Gurdjieff in New York City. The account of her subsequent years at the Prieuré in France––during which she received Gurdjieff’s “all-embracing education”––is liberally salted with anecdotes describing this great teacher’s unorthodox methods. Unique in the Gurdjieff literature is a chapter devoted to the translation of Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson.

This expanded edition includes new material reflective of her life and work. Of note are the inclusion of excerpts of her letters to Alfons Paquet written between 1929 and 1931 and her essay, An Introduction to The Tibetan Book of the Dead, containing some suggestions as to the right method of reading Gurdjieff’s Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson.”


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