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James van Praagh |
James Van Praagh (b. August 23, 1958, Bayside, New York) is a best-selling author, and spiritual medium. He has written several best-selling books dealing with spirituality and spirit communication which have been translated into over 50 languages worldwide. In the 1995 NBC television series "The Other Side," Van Praagh was introduced as the first medium ever to perform readings on the air, and quickly became the series favorite. However, the claim is false, as the Brazilian medium Francisco Cândido Xavier had already done readings in 1971, channelled by TV Tupi, in the show named PINGA-FOGO. This can be seen on DVD (http://www.americanas.com.br/prod/580315/DVDStore). The Brazilian show can also be seen on the internet at http://www.saindodamatrix.com.br/archives/2005/08/pingafogo_com_c.html.
Howard Rosenberg, the Los Angeles Time television critic, dubbed Van Praagh's performances "spectacular." In December 1997, Van Praagh became the first medium to appear on Larry King Live to promote his first book "Talking To Heaven." From 2002 to 2003, he hosted a syndicated daytime talk show entitled "Beyond With James Van Praagh," which is still seen around the world in syndication. He subsequently partnered with CBS to produce several TV-movies and mini-series based on his life and experiences, including "Living With The Dead" and "The Dead Will Tell." He developed and is currently the co-executive producer of the television series Ghost Whisperer on CBS and occasionally appears as a special correspondent for the CBS television series The Insider and Entertainment Tonight.
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Van Praagh was born in Bayside, New York and is the youngest of four children. Raised Roman Catholic he attended seminary at the age of 14, however he has described himself as experiencing spiritual phenomena from a young age that eventually drew him away from conventional religious practice.
He graduated from San Francisco State University, majoring in Broadcasting and Communications and subsequently moved to Los Angeles. It was there that he first discovered an interest in metaphysics1 and began working as a medium following a prediction by another medium who suggested it was his destiny.2
Van Praagh built his early career performing private readings and quickly graduated to wider audiences with a series of audiotapes, books, and eventually the television appearances that gave him national exposure.
Van Praagh claims that through his mediumistic abilities he receives messages from spirits and feelings about their presence that provide "detailed evidential proof that a loved one survived death."2
In 2002, he hosted his own daytime talk show "Beyond with Van Praagh",3 in which he performed readings with audience members.
His work continued to inspire his own brand of successful television shows with CBS and produced the mini series "Living With The Dead", "The Dead Will Tell" and the CBS drama "Ghost Whisperer".
Van Praagh also hosts regular seminars and workshops to assist others in developing spiritual awareness.
Critics of Van Praagh accuse him of using the mentalism technique of cold reading to simulate psychic powers.45 They point to several incidents in which Van Praagh's claims have been wrong, such as when he suggested to the parents of the abducted Shawn Hornbeck that the boy's body might be found in a railroad car.6 Hornbeck was found alive four years later, having been abducted but not killed, and the kidnapper was not a railroad plant worker as Van Praagh had suggested.7 Van Praagh has responded by asserting that his messages are often vague and hard to interpret and sometimes he mistakes their meaning, often re-interpreting them after the fact to fit new information.
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