My Library

Most of my friends, and the ASPR itself, were besieged with calls from people who wanted to know how much I charged for a reading or a consultation. "Mr. Swann doesn’t give readings." Hesitation . . . "But what does that mean? He’s a PSYCHIC, isn’t he?" "Mr. Swann says he’s not a psychic." Hesitation . . . "Well, give me his phone number anyway?" "Sorry. Mr. Swann’s phone number is CLASSIFIED." (I’m serious: this IS what my friends had begun saying.) "If he’s not a psychic, why is everyone saying he is?" "Mr. Swann only works with scientists." Hesitation . . . "But what does THAT mean?" The American Society for Psychical Research had a lot of calls from media types wanting to talk with me. When I say the ASPR, I mean the archdeaconess, Fanny Knipe, took the calls. She called me to ask what to do about the calls. I said: "Tell them to stick their heads where the sun don’t shine." Fanny said: "You know, Ingo, you’re the first psychic we’ve ever known who doesn’t want publicity." "Fanny, dear, I’m NOT a psychic. I’m a . . . (grasping for words) . . . I’m a perceptual researcher, that’s all." After Buell Mullen Central and Ruth Hagy Brod Central complained to Zelda Central about my refusal "to go public," Zelda undertook to change my mind over a good game of Scrabble.