MADreads

I do not see dead people

February 3rd, 2009 Molly - Central

But I think it would be really cool if I did.  And I half expect to at every turn.  Kind of like the way I half expect to be able to tap dance or solve a complicated math problem if I concentrate hard enough.  It just doesn’t happen for me.  I don’t doubt that it happens for other people, though.

James Van Praagh’s latest book Ghosts Among Us: Uncovering the Truth About the Other Side explains his own talent for connecting with the dead.  He considers himself to be a medium, and has been aware of this gift for as long as he can remember.  His gift may have been inherited from his mother’s side of the family, but it was tough for him growing up sorting out when it was OK to reveal the gift and when it was time to keep it hidden.  Growing up in a large Irish Catholic family, he jokes that he was surrounded with death, attending at least one funeral every year.  Come to find out, lots of spirits hang out during Catholic mass.  Who knew?  Makes sense to me.  Events celebrating life and death often happen at church and that energy may draw spirits in.  Again, I do not doubt it. The way Van Praagh tells it, it all makes perfect sense.  Then I got to thinking, maybe his real talent is not in connecting with the other side, it is as a writer.

Van Praagh shot to fame in 1997 after appearing on Larry King Live at the time his first book Talking to Heaven was published.  He has been gaining steam with his books and television shows ever since.  He is currently the co-executive producer on Ghost Whisperer.  True confession time: I love Ghost Whisperer.  Each week Melinda Gordon solves a mystery involving a lost spirit that needs to “cross over” to the Other Side.  This involves stretching the imagination, lots of tears and ultimately, loved ones sending the deceased on their way to meet up with other loved ones.  The character of Melinda is based on a friend of Van Praagh’s and his work on the show is referenced in the book several times.

Part memoir, part technical manual, this work covers a lot of territory.  Van Praagh shares many of his experiences with the otherworldly spirits, and because he works in Hollywood, many of his stories involve famous names.  I found this material quite fascinating.  There is also a good deal of technical information about kinetic energy, metaphysics and the proper equipment needed for contacting spirits; that’s all a bit much for me.  Van Praagh has a great life story and an engaging writing style–I would have been happy enough with that.

Entry Filed under: Memoir & Biography, Nonfiction