My Library

In Early October, 1971, in consultation with other members on the ASPR, John took the initiative to have this invitation extended to me. He was a member of the ASPR board of Trustees, and without telling me anything about it, he had called up several other board members and discussed the "invitation." Although I completely adored the two wonderful Wingates, I was not amused. The functionaries of the ASPR believed their Society to be traditionally important as the top of the parapsychology system. On the other hand, other groups interested in psi phenomena felt differently. Buell Central considered the ASPR a stinking cesspool of intrigue, palace coups, vendettas, and other demoralizing whatnot. Even Zelda Central, typically condemning no one, somewhat agreed. The American Society for Psychical Research, more briefly called the ASPR, was founded in 1885 largely by the efforts of the British physicist, Sir William Barrett (1844-1925), and one of America's foremost psychologists, William James (1842-1910). The new Society was meant to be the American counterpart of the British Society for Psychical Research (SPR) founded in 1882. Prior to the founding of those two Societies, psychical phenomena and other mysterious events were generally treated in two particular ways.