I’ve often given talks on the visionary painter and pulp writer, Richard Shaver.  The one I did at Brooklyn’s “Four Walls” gallery was the most elaborate.  Mike Ballou made wall sconces using Shaver’s rock photos; we hung a tree with Shaver publications; and I spoke within a charming fake cave.

[Read more →]

This was my first foray into Forteana, reading selections from Charles Fort for the Virginia Matthews Dance Company, back in San Francisco in 1985.  And lo, Janice Ross of the Oakland Tribune approved, even if she got Fort’s name wrong (2/11/85).

[Read more →]

This was John Keel’s last book: a collection of his columns for Fate magazine.  He had promised to write an introduction, but was too ill to do it.  The publisher, Phyllis Galde, asked me if she could use the bio I had written for the Mothman issue of Fortean Times. So, I got their permission, […]

[Read more →]

I’ve long been intrigued by the supposed liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius in Naples. Part of the purpose of this article was to debunk the common notion of a clash between religion and science; since the “miracle” (as the Vatican is eager to stress) has nothing to do with Catholic doctrine, and the […]

[Read more →]

The movie based on John A. Keel’s book The Mothman Prophecies was released in 2002; the Fortean Times marked the occasion with a special issue. I contributed a biography and bibliography of Keel, and an interview conducted with the assistance of George Kuchar and Dr. Mamie Caton.

[Read more →]

It doesn’t seem right for there to be a Gideon Bible in every hotel room; so I often substitute a nice secular book: one by Thomas Love Peacock, for example, or the Baroness Orczy. I had these cards printed for those occasions.

[Read more →]

When I visited my family in Beggs, Oklahoma, I became interested in a local curiosity, The Giants’ Highway, or Checkerboard Crossing. The unusually flat limestone bed, crossed with regular cracks, is the subject of much local folklore; and has been marketed at times as a tourist attraction. It had generally escaped the notice of simulacra […]

[Read more →]

While researching the life of the novelist and Fortean Tiffany Thayer, I came across an unfamiliar photo of Charles Fort. I passed it along to the Fortean Times, which inspired the art director, Etienne Gilfillan, to search for more. His discoveries were published in the March 2006 issue (#207). I provided captions, and an article […]

[Read more →]

“Boris Vian for Anglophones” appeared in Strange Attractor Journal 2 (2005), edited by Mark Pilkington. Vian is one of my favorite writers, and his work is still largely unknown to English speakers. I tried in this article to give some idea of his astonishing output, including the less familiar works — such as his songs […]

[Read more →]

My slide show on a curious NYC street artist, who called himself Pantuso, appeared on the former webzine “Word.” I also performed it at the Brooklyn Museum, the gallery Four Walls, Dixon Place, and other fine venues. The “Word” version is archived here.

[Read more →]