Customer Reviews

Lily Dale: The True Story of the Town that Talks to the Dead

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is an unusual book by an unusually gifted journalist. Christine Wicker has a way of approaching her material--a quirky little town in western New York, filled with people who follow the traditions of Spiritualism, first founded as a home for what were called the Free Thinkers--with curiousity, compassion and respect. (Many of us still are free thinkers--one reason we talked to a reporter, I suppose!)

As a registered medium in Lily Dale, I'm one of the people Christine has written about. I still fondly remember her first visit to Lily Dale: the summer she arrived as a religion writer from the Dallas Morning News. Her photographer was baffled, and seemed a bit spooked by it all, but he was a trooper (although we never saw him again!) But Christine came back, and back again, to delve into the mysteries of what makes my odd little summer home "tick."

For me, its a haven: a place where I'm one of 30-some registered mediums, rather than the only one. In Princeton, NJ, I feel at home, too--but it's in Lily Dale that I can settle in to a place that understands, no explanation required.

To an outsider, though, Lily Dale must seem quite unusual, with its dilapidated Victorian charm and population of people who believe that the dead aren't dead, and that they still communicate with us, to guide us and help us journey safely through life. We'll even teach you how you can do the same.

Christine Wicker manages to blend personal stories of visitors staying in the beautifully restored home of a retired college philosophy professor, Frank, and his psychologist wife Shelley. Her own story is told, too: a journey from curious observer to a woman who learns she, too, can pass on messages from the other side, with many twists and turns and funny, touching moments in between.

If you're curious about people, or just want to read a nonfiction book that has the heart and soul of a novel with a bit of history tossed in, this is one book you won't want to miss. It'll touch you--much like the town itself touched the author...

I felt that Christine Wicker's book was very well written and insightful. I have been to Lily Dale twice. The first time was merely to view its amazing houses. I don't know why, but the minute we drove through the gates, I was euphoric, and no, that is not too strong a word. I came back again because it the most magical place I have ever been. I fell in love with Lily Dale and Ms. Wicker's book only reinforced what I felt. As I read, I could feel her struggle at times to be objective and rational. I feel that her "evidence" was more compelling than she allowed. It crossed my mind that more conventional religions are founded and maintained on less physical evidence or on evidence that was documented thousands of years ago and yet their believers feel that what they believe is true as do the Spiritualists. I loved the book and have passed it on. I wish much happiness to the people of Lily Dale. Most of all, I hope this books encourages its readers who may not be familiar with Spiritualist idealogy to open their minds to another way of thinking. I think the best proof that there is something very good in Lily Dale is the fact that Christine Wicker did not just research a book and walk away, but instead went back to Lily Dale again and again as I imagine I shall. During my two visits, I was too shy to approach a medium for a reading...it was enough for me to just be there. After having read this book, I know that I will when I go back. Thank you for that, Christine. You have written a good book.

Bravo! Ms. Wicker has written a long over-due book about the Spiritualist community of Lily Dale, NY. I found it to be well researched and colorful. The book is thought provoking as she describes her experiences and those of others she met in Lily Dale. I found it frequently humorous and at times a bit offensive as she decribes the people she encountered in Lily Dale. There is a sadness too, which is to be expected when discussing physical loss of loved ones. The book opens your mind and your heart again and again.

Recognizing each of us is on a spiritual journey, I appreciate her efforts to be objective and present all avenues of possible conclusions for the reader. Read it and draw your own! Better yet spend some of your summer in Lily Dale and find out for yourself.

Lily Dale is possibly the most amazing town in America. People who today watch psychics on TV such as John Edward don't realize that such mediums are following a 130 year-old tradition of spiritualism, the center of which is Lily Dale, N.Y.

The people who live at Lily Dale are devout, religious people, who do not have self-promotion as a primary goal, so the town is not well known. That may change with this wonderful book that perfectly captures the town.

The author approaches her topic with respect, but not with blind credulity or harsh sarcasm, and the reader is taken along on a voyage of discovery with her. Believers and Non-believers in the supernatural will be entranced by the fascinating people and anecdotes. The author depicts both the Mediums who contact the "other side", and the people who visit the town. Some episodes are profoundly moving, some are hilarious, and some indeed are "spooky" and hard to explain.

I loved this book!! In addition to being a fascinating sociological and historical report, it challenges the intellect and the heart. People who have either one should read it.

With all the interest in the likes of John Edward and James VanPraagh, it seemed only a matter of time before someone wrote a book about Lily Dale.

I've known about Lily Dale for years, have been there lots of times. Initially I came to find a connection with a dear friend who'd recently passed. While I never experienced the kinds of connections others had with their loved ones, I did come to peace with her passing. Everyone who's ever been there has a story about their Lily Dale experience, I suspect. That's mine, and this book is Ms. Wicker's.

I found nothing in the book that was demeaning of the mediums who live and work there, nor of Spiritualism. As a religion Spiritualism has long been under the microscope of those who don't understand it's pure, free-thinking nature which is rooted in natural law with an unwaivering core belief in a Divine presence. Because it does not subscribe to mainstream religious beliefs, it's legitimacy is called into question. Ms. Wicker tells that story, too. She is honest about her own skepticism, relating her own level of eye-rolling.

Yes, there were some descriptions of the residents that did make me uncomfortable; in some cases I might have prefered a more balanced view. While it was not mentioned in the story, I'll bet the "richest woman in town" probably works anonymously behind the scenes to get things done. If her generosity is truly anonymous, then perhaps no one shared that with Ms. Wicker. Perhaps they don't know, or perhaps they do and don't care. Like small towns everywhere, people are often willing to dish the dirt about those of whom they're envious. It's hard to know. I can only speculate.

Honestly, I found it fascinating that a writer who originally journeyed to write a single story for a major Texas newspaper would become so enthralled with the town that she returned many times over to try to discover what's really going on behind the scenes.

Read between the lines. Like Lily Dale, there's more here than meets the eye. This is a book with heart and soul. Is this THE TRUE story of the town that talks to the dead? Well, no. However, it is A TRUE story, Ms. Wicker's story. It's enchanting, intriguing. Sometimes poignant, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, it chronicles her journey, talks about the people she meets. I suspect it's not the end of her journey but just a stop along the way.

POSTSCRIPT: I found Ms. Wicker's previous book "God Knows My Heart" fascinating, too. A die-hard southern Baptist girl questions her beliefs and comes to a peace with a new way of knowing God.

Lily Dale is one of a kind, no doubt about it. This is a town in New York State that caters to and is principally owned by Spiritualists. You will meet an array of characters that you will find only in this book and they are all devoted to be the benefit of others. Whether you believe in spirits or everlasting life is not really the issue. The fact is that many people do and this is a survey/rundown of how they think and their realities. The author was the greatest skeptic of all, yet after many visits in this town, her beliefs did change to a degree and you will find out why at the end of the story. You should enjoy all the information given and find out how "the other half lives."

Though not a spiritualist, I have long been fascinated by the American birth of this religion and its influence on the intellectual and social life of 19th century America. With Christine Wicker's work contributing to our understanding with a fresh assessment of this spiritual heritage through the microcosm of the Lily Dale community. We discover the progressive movements enhanced and energized by those Victorian Spiritualists, for examples, the surprising number of Spiritualists who were active in the abolitionist movement, human rights movements, not just for anglo-saxons but all Americans regardless of race, and perhaps the progenitor in the struggle for the rights of women (no small achievement). For the first time since ancient times, women were perceived as spiritual leaders & role models rather than as silent, serving, disenfranchised members of a church congregation. Through mediumship women tasted for the first time a role of respect and leadership within their communities and there was no turning back.

This book also serves as a spiritual diary of discovery for the author herself. Her chapter recounting an encounter with the Dalai Lama is extremely profound and moving. Observing the empowerment of women with low self-esteems and extremely difficult lives, that blossom through affiliation with the movement is insightful from a sociological perspective. And the comfort for the bereaved which Spiritualism has offered since its inception is well illustrated in a non-sensational manner.
As with all religious/spiritual movements, we see the sublime as well as the ridiculous of human fraility at play with petty politics, back biting, artificial hierarchies, and the desire for power. But at the conclusion of the book one comes away with a sense of the nobility of the human spirit both in this life and just maybe in the next...

Christine Wicker's Lily Dale: The True Story of the Town That Talks to the Dead (2003) is a breezy but somewhat misguided and misleading book about the famous spiritualist community located in western New York State. The cover photo and all those included inside suggest that 'Lily Dale' is a historical overview of the town, which has existed since the 1800s. But the book, which is identified as "history" on the back flap, is largely about the author's experiences there over a period of three years, with only glancing references to the town's past. Though the community's resident professional mediums, psychics, and channelers are prominently featured in the text, no photographs of them are included; no present-day photographs are included at all.

Wicker, a "religion reporter for the Dallas Morning News," is a likeable and often engaging writer, but, as she acknowledges several times, she is ambivalent about exactly what kind of book she wants to produce, and thus the entertaining early chapters promise far more than the book eventually delivers. The last third is particularly unfocused and meandering, as Wicker struggles with the clash of belief and skepticism that arises from her occasionally unsettling experiences. As a result, 'Lily Dale' sinks into a muddy subjectivity that seems unfair to both her audience and her subject.

However, Wicker excels at depicting the uncritical New Age atmosphere that dominates the community, which includes an official policy that no "bad news" derived from 'spirit sources' be passed on to its paying customers, and where "let's love each other" and "we ought to try to be nice" are current examples of the depth of Lily Dale's enlightening philosophy.

"Evil spirits, possessions, and hauntings" are also taboo, which suggests that some of the community's residents may be familiar with the late Joe Fisher's The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts (2001), a book certainly relevent to Wicker's subject as well as the ostensible activities of the town's professional community. Wicker herself seems to be unfamiliar Fisher's grim memoir, since she neither discusses it nor lists it in the bibliography. Elsewhere, one the resident spiritualist acknowledges that "mountains of fraud have been committed" by the community's mediums over the course of the last century, even while reports are reaching Wicker's ears that people are "morphing into animals" and "fairies...with wings beating" are appearing in the nearby woods.

Wicker follows the lives of several women looking for supernatural answers to a variety of problems in their lives, but she is far from uniformly sympathetic to those seeking messages, affection, and wisdom from the departed. "How nice it must be to believe that you're the little darling of the universe," she comments privately about one woman whose faith in the paranormal seems to come a little too easily.

Wicker can be quite astute, as when she writes, "It's as though we live inside a big egg, whose shell is made up of a million perceptions, comments, and occurrences that have hardened around us and blocked our view of anything else. All we see are the calcified remains of our experience, and every day the shell gets thicker. Lily Dale's spirits tap, tap, tap away until they break a tiny pinhole in the shell. A strange light comes through. And some of us start to kick our way out. That might be true."

Since Wicker is clearly very intelligent, it's unfortunate that she didn't make the objective history of the community her primary focus, especially since, unsurprisingly, no hard answers about the nature of the phenomena at the center of her book resulted from her experience.

This book was recommended to me when I mentionned to someone I had just read a biography of Kate and Maggie Fox, 19th century spirit rappers. She said, "you must read this new book, it's all about mediums!" And she was right. This book was a record of the author's several summers among the mediums and spiritualist culture of New York enclave "Lily Dale". The voice tone of the author was one of skepticism that floundered in the face of unexplained, but then redoubled in the face of the very much explainable. Her wit and wonder and ability to portray colorful persons just as they are were very enjoyable. If you ever wondered why people believe a medium can talk to the dead, or shook your head in disbelief at new age ideas, this is a fun romp through the "what if?" Wicker focuses on what she was able to glean from the medium's own views of their lives and how that view and their actions affect the visitors to Lily Dale that come in contact with them. It is not an expose--go to works by Houdini and the Amazing Randi for that. It is not an affirmation of spiritualist faith, either. It is a candid look at her own journey through the culture of Lily Dale and the questions and sometimes answers it prompted in her own world view. Very interesting and a little mind bending!

I picked up "Lily Dale" thinking it would be about the history of this small spiritualist town, but although a few pieces of history are scattered throughout, this was definately not the major theme. Instead, this book is about the writer's journey from full-fledged skeptic to someone who at least wonders "what if...", and the cast of "regulars" in this town.

Lily Dale is a spiritualist community/summer camp that has been running since the 1800's. Once summer hits, this town is filled to the brim with those looking for help, answers, and some rest & relaxation. There are generally around 30 mediums/psychics/healers open for business during this busy time, and they hold many different classes having to do with various spiritual topics.

Althoug much of "Lily Dale" deals with the author's own transformation, several interesting stories re: the help received through various medium's messages are included. It is also shown that even the best psychics/mediums aren't right all the time - but then again, one really needs to question who is? I have yet to know anyone who is ever 100% correct in their work & family lives!

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to those interested in spiritualism & the paranormal - it's a real eye-opener.