 Doubleday Book Club - Sylvia Browne
Doubleday Book Club Authors
About Sylvia BrowneSilvia Browne was born on October 19, 1936 in Kansas City, MO, to Celeste Coil and Bill Shoemaker. Bill was Jewish and had many jobs in his lifetime, including jewelry salesman and mail delivery and was the vice president of a well known freight line. Slyvia's mother Celeste was an Episcopalian and her mother's mother was a very devout Lutheran. For herself, however, Browne proclaimed to be Jewish in 2001. Sylvia Browne has said that her visions began appearing to her when she was just five and that her grandmother, who was herself a psychic medium, helped her to know why she was having them. Sylvia Browne has also said that she had a great uncle who was a psychic and he was very passionate about UFO's. Sylvia Browne started giving psychic readings in the year 1974 and has since then attracted many followings of both supporters and detractors. She has given literally thousands of readings one on one and for a large variety of both individuals and groups. Her rate as of 2008 is $850 for a phone reading which lasts 20-30 minutes. She says that she has done work both for the police and the FBI. From the April of 1959 until 1972, Sylvia Browne was married to Gary Dufresne, who said in an interview in 2007 that he doesn't believe that she has any psychic powers. The last name of Brown came to Sylvia from Kenzil Dalzell Brown during her third of her fourth marriages and she added the "e" to Brown after being indicted on charges of Security Fraud. In September of 2002, the marriage between her and Larry Lee Beck was ended. Although she has written a lot of books on spirituality and has claimed that her son Christopher is psychic as well, there have been claims that the readings that she has given for people are no better than educated guesses. There have been people who were told that they would have a long life, only to die four years after the reading. That being said, there are some predictions that she has made. However, those predictions were easy to see, and she has conveniently been unable to make good on promises that would prove whether or not she can make accurate predictions. One of these examples is the James Randi Educational Foundation's $1,000,000 challenge. In one of Sylvia Browne's books, she describes heaven and says that it's not too far above the surface. She says that there aren't any insects there unless you wish it and that there are pets in heaven. She has appeared on different programs, both on radio and television, including Montel Williams, Coast to Coast AM and Larry King Live. She normally talks about her abilities and then does readings for callers or members of the audience. Only Sylvia Browne knows if she really has powers or not, but Sylvia Browne's books have sold many copies and there are many people who will attest to her powers. Her books are very interesting and her belief in the supernatural is genuine. Learn more at the Sylvia Browne website. |
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