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

Lily Dale is a New York town, infamous for its residents . . .not necessarily those you see but the ones you can't see. It's been on the map as a Spiritualist community for over 100 years. Residents you can see, and there are lots of them, too, are avowed Spiritualists. They open their community each summer to the curious and all looking for an answer to the great unknown questions--what happens after we die? Do we die? Is there an afterworld? Residents of Lily Dale, the physically alive and those who move in and out via the spirit world, speak directly to a deep belief in a world where death is simply a loss of the physical body. The life of the spirit lives on and on. So we know way ahead of time what they think. The author, Christine Wicker, was the religion reporter for the Dallas Morning News. She's clearly a seeker and the book is as much her search for answers as about the town and what it represents. Maybe it was my perception from the title, which told me the book would give us the truth, but I came away from this book a bit let down. I felt as if it was presented as a literary experiment, a reporter's journey into the unknown. She'd give readers her assessments of what the truth might be based on Lily Dale itself, not undeniable fact. I was ready for author/subject interaction, and hoped to hear Ms. Wicker's thoughts on what Lily Dale represented to her. I didn't get that. It was as if she maybe didn't get the answers she hoped for so she simply didn't offer her impressions. She seemed still skeptical despite her affection towards Lily Dale's locals, and she was even in awe of some of them. Christine Wicker is a talented writer. The book is lively, full of colorful, entertaining, enlightening characters. I even had an urge to consider my own pilgrimage to Lily Dale . . . and in the final count, maybe that's what the author intended. Maybe she just wanted the mystique and curiosity to continue to flow. Ms. Wicker could not or didn't want to commit. As she put it, "One minute I could believe, and then someone would push me too far." I guess she didn't want to push any of her readers too far.

Lily Dale is a summer camp for Spiritualism. It is sixty miles south of Buffalo. Sinclair Lewis visited in 1917. Mediums no longer use spirit cabinets, ouija boards, or crystal balls. Only Spiritualists are permitted to buy the houses in the one hundred sixty-seven acre compound. The Lily Dale Association is a religious corporation. The community is located only twenty miles from Chautaugua. What is a vibration, the author asked. Mediums believe that they can sense when a spirit is present. Even skeptics brelieve that Lily Dale may be a place of great spiritual wisdom. Services at the encampment are called message services. There are no appointed ministers for the two churches in the community. There is much respect there for individual rights. William James reported that belief in psychic events has appeared in every society. Cornelius Vanderbilt sought the assistance of clairvoyants. Karen Armstrong has noted that rationality cannot assuage our sorrow. The author went to Lily Dale as a skeptic, but she changed. Spiritual growth is about walking into mystery. The author, a journalist, worked on the staff of a Dallas daily newspaper. She spent several seasons at Lily Dale. She gives a fair and interesting account of her sojourn there. Students of American history and general readers will find much to like in this book.

Christine Wicker was a journalist with the Dallas Morning News as the religion reporter. In this book she explores Lily Dale, the 122 year old spiritualist center. While much has been written about it, there has never been a thorough examination about exactly what goes on there, who the people are and what they do from the inside of the town. The people of Lily Dale allow Ms. Wicker to come into their town, their homes and their lives to examine the spiritualist/medium movement, its history and its claims. Ms. Wicker approaches the topic with gentle skepticism but an open mind. We are presented with a good history of the town and the spiritualist movement. We meet the people who had created Lily Dale and the people who are there now. Practices that were popular when the town was founded are discussed. Examined are some of the tricks that had been used. We see the changes that have been made, how the practice that had been a boom to the town became exposed, and how the town changed their practices to bring it more in line with spirituality rather than a side show. Ms. Wicker does look at what the beliefs of the mediums are. And while I believe she is never totally convinced, she does have material to ponder, and she does question. I found that admirable. I also see where she re-examines her own beliefs, and comes away with some unexpected insights. It's a lovely look at the town, at its history, at the practices and the spirituality. It is presented honestly and openly. And it also tells of Ms. Wicker's own journey through this examination of things that are just a little outside the box of normal religion and spirituality. There is some good journalist writing here, the story is well told and will entertain, enlighten and possibly spark some curiosity on the readers part. Boudica

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...

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.