American clinical psychologist and astrologer. As an astrologer she counseled up to 100 people a year and was the author of many books and a researcher on asteroids. Well respected in the field, Dobyns was the winner of the 1992 Regulus Award for Education and a second Regulus Award for Discovery and Innovation, 1995.
The daughter of a publisher, Zip remembered her childhood as one blessed with wonderful parents and a supportive upbringing. As the eldest of four kids and the only girl, she tended her brothers and always wanted to have her own kids. She earned a B.A. in anthropology in 1944.
She married Henry F. Dobyns on 30 August 1948 in Tucson, Arizona and promptly had her family, Rique on 16 September 1949, Bill on 4 December 1950, Maritha on 21 May 1952 and Mark on 9 February 1955. The kids later followed her lead, more or less, into astrology. She and Henry (who became an anthropology professor) separated on 26 August 1952 and divorced on 28 August 1958.
In the Fall of 1956 she began the study of astrology and was certified as a professional astrologer after the AFA exam in 1960. She began her study of clinical psychology in 1962 at the University of Arizona. In 1965, Zip was ordained as a minister in the Community Church of Religious Science. Since then she worked professionally in astrology, counseling, teaching, and writing. With post-grad work, she earned an M.A. in 1966 and a Ph.D. in 1969. By 2000, Zip was world-known, having lectured in 16 countries and 36 U.S. states.
On 29 June 1999, Dobyns had a large tumor removed from her ovaries, a complete hysterectomy followed by six chemotherapy treatments on 16 August, 7 and 28 September, 19 October, and 11 and 30 November 1999. The blood marker for ovarian cancer was normal, a highly encouraging indicator of complete remission.
With a strong belief system of personal responsibility, she was convinced that her cancer was the direct result of misplayed mothering. Her trust was betrayed by a young woman whom she had befriended and given a home to who then sued her at the end of 1997 for a dog-bite on the property.
Zip Dobyns died on 7 June 2003 sometime in the wee hours (“between 3 and 6 AM”) at her home in Jamul, California.
Link to Astrowiki (German)