Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Deborah Blum to speak Nov. 1

October 27, 2006

Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Deborah Blum will speak about her recent book, "Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death" at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1 in the Kachel Center in the Center of the Arts on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus.  Friends of the University Library will be sponsoring the event and it is free and open to the public.

In the book, Blum uses her extraordinary storytelling skills as she narrates the story of 19th century psychologist-philosopher William James and a small group of scientists as they apply objective scientific methods to study the paranormal to try to prove the existence of ghosts, spirits and psychic phenomena. These courageous men pursued the paranormal in an attempt to bridge the gap between faith and science at a time when religion was overwhelmed by the theory of evolution. Blum exposes the history of their research, their passionate friendships and disputes, as well as their private doubts about the meaning of their work.

Blum has been a professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1997.  She earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1976, with a double minor in anthropology and political science.

She worked as a newspaper science writer for twenty years, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for her writing about primate research, which she turned into a book, "The Monkey Wars." Her other books include "Sex on the Brain" and "Love at Goon Park." She has written about scientific research for The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Discover, Health, Psychology Today, and Mother Jones. She is a past president of the National Association of Science Writers and now serves on an advisory board to the World Federation of Science Journalists and the National Academy of Sciences.