In Lily Dale: The Town That Talks to the Dead, Christine Wicker packs her bags and takes a good honest look at the Spiritualist community of Lily Dale and the mediums that call the place home. She views every experience with an open and respectful, yet unapologetic and skeptical eye, which I appreciated… even if I felt a bit guilty for appreciating it. The reader gets to follow what ends up being a cast of fascinating characters, including guests, mediums, and other members of the community. She asks the questions many of us would probably want to ask, but wouldn't, because we'd be afraid of being offensive. Christine covers the good, the bad, and the dysfunction of Lily Dale (even juicy gossip among mediums)! And even though she stubbornly refuses to have a spiritual experience, there's evidence that she does, even if it's just temporary.
In the last five years or so, I've spent much of my time reading, experimenting, and researching all things “spirit communication”. After first reading about Lily Dale in a book about Spiritualism and the famous Fox Sisters, and after conversations with medium Lee Allen Howard and hearing about his trips to the famous Spiritualist camp, it has been a destination I've been very interested in learning about and possibly visiting. Also, six months ago I watched and reviewed No One Dies in Lily Dale, the HBO documentary. As I mentioned in the comments of a recent post about this book, I think I'm going to have to watch the documentary again after reading Christine's take on it all. I'll make it to Lily Dale one of these days, but in the meantime I feel like the experience of reading this book was the next best thing.
Do you have any other recommendations on the topic of Lily Dale? Let me know in the comments below!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBaUcYqKoTs?rel=0]
(Speaking of taking my word for it, you may be interested in LeVar Burton's Reading Rainbow Kickstarter project.)
