Gary E. Schwartz - The Truth About Medium: Extraordinary Experiments with the real Allison DuBois of NBCs Medium and other Remarkable Psychics

Other books by Gary E. Schwartz

The Living Energy Universe (1999, with Linda G. Russek)

Other books by Gary E. Schwartz with William L. Simon

The Afterlife Experiments (2002, with William L. Simon)

The G.O.D. Experiments (2006, with William L. Simon)

Other books by or coauthored by William L. Simon

Profit from Experience (1996)

Beyond the Numbers (1997)

Lasting Change (1997)

On the Firing Line (1998)

High Velocity Leadership (1999)

Driving Digital (2001)

The Art of Deception (2002)

In Search of Business Value (2005)

The Art of Intrusion (2005)

Copyright 2005 by Gary E. Schwartz

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work in any form whatsoever, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief passages in connection with a review.

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Cover digital illustration/design by Britton McDaniel

Cover photography by Bob Rodriguez

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Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data

Schwartz, Gary E., 1944

The truth about Medium: extraordinary experiments with the real Allison DuBois of NBC's Medium and other remarkable psychics / Gary E. Schwartz, with William L. Simon.

p. cm.

Summary: Recounts four years of experiments at the University of Arizona with the real Allison DuBoisthe inspiration for NBC's drama Mediumas well as other exceptional mediums. These experiments clearly demonstrate the validity of psychic ability and mediumshipProvided by publisher.

ISBN 1-57174-459-2 (5-1/2 x 8-1/2 tc : alk. paper)

1. Science and spiritualism. 2. DuBois, Allison. I. Simon, William L. 1930- II. Title.

BF1275.S3S35 2005

133.9'ldc22

2005022175

Printed on acid-free paper in Canada

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 1-57174-459-2

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For Susy Smith (19112001)

In order to disprove the law that all crows are black, it is enough to find one white crow.

-William James, MD

How we can know what in the television show Medium is real by learning the truth about the real Allison DuBois

I t is said that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. The question is, how do we know what is real and what is fantasy? For example, when we watch a television show supposedly based on a real life personin this case, a purported medium who claims to solve crimes by speaking with the deadhow do we know what is genuine and what is entertainment?

The answer is we don't.

Consider an episode of NBC's hit television series Medium shown in the spring of 2005. The story centers around a professor at an unnamed university who conducts research on mediums and survival of consciousness after death. The story begins with the medium Allison DuBois, played by Patricia Arquette, having a recurrent dream about the disappearance of a young boy's brother near a train crossing. The assumption is made that the brother was kidnapped and killed. We are told that the perpetrator is in jail, convicted for the abduction and murder of three children. However, we are told that only two bodies were recovered. What happened to the third body?

We are shown how Allison had earlier met the professor at an outdoor picnic. With the case of the missing boy troubling her, she goes to the professor, hoping he can somehow make sense of this confusing and disturbing dream and understanding why it refuses to go away.

The plot thickens when we learn that the medium's dream actually relates to the professor, whose brother happened to disappear near a train crossing and was presumably murdered when they were children. Through a series of twists and turns we discover that the professor's brother is actually alive and has just published a novel inspired by his personal experience of his sibling's disappearance. The story concludes with Allison finally being able to sleep comfortably again, and the two brothers tearfully embracing after having been separated for most of their lives.

Is this story real? Yes and no.

NBC's Medium series is indeed inspired by the real life of Allison DuBois. The series accurately depicts that Allison is in her 30s, has a husband who is an aerospace engineer, has three children, lives in Phoenix, and has consulted for the District Attorney's office. The series correctly depicts that Allison is a gifted mediumshe does receive information about the deadas confirmed by four years of research conducted by a professor at the University of Arizona.

However, save for these general facts, the specific storyline about the professor and his missing brother story is fiction. Medium is primarily entertainment and makes for enjoyable television; it does not claim to be entirely factual. The professor who has done research experiments on Allison DuBois's mediumship abilities is me. It is true that I am a senior professor, and I do have a brother. And yes, I have spent some of my research time conducting research with mediums like Allison (although the majority of my research time over the past four years has been spent directing a Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science, funded by the National Institutes of Health, at the University of Arizona.)

However, for the record, I did not meet Allison at a picnic, she did not seek me out to help her with her disturbing dreams, and my brother was not abducted in childhood. And Allison does not achieve most of her psychic information via dreams.

The problem is lack of credible information about the science related to the show. The public does not have access to the scientific truth about Allison and mediums like her. The fact is that there are a number of pioneering mediumswho for reasons we don't yet understand are more often womenwho have given science some of their precious time and energy to document that what they do is real.

Real life research with mediums is sometimes so extraordinary that it doesn't have to be fictionalized to be experienced as incredible. The facts are remarkable enough. The evidence is often dramatic and sometimes overwhelming. As a scientist, I find myself metaphorically pulling out my hair as I scream silently to myself I can't believe what I have just seen.

Who needs fiction when the truth is stranger than fantasy?

The Truth about Medium is a book about genuine mediums, not psychic entertainers or mental magicians. It focuses on the real Allison DuBois, whose life as a medium inspired NBC's hit television series Medium.

In these pages she's joined by other mediums, including Laurie Campbell of California, Janet Mayer of Missouri, and Mary Occhino of New York. Together they have taken part in an extraordinary collection of experiments, both formal and informal, in which they have played a key role leading to exceptional discoveries.