James Van Praagh
James Van Praagh (b. August 23 1958, Bayside, New York) is a best-selling author, and spiritual medium. He has written several best-selling books dealing with spirituality and spirit communication which have been translated into over 50 languages worldwide. Van Praagh was introduced to the television audience as the first medium ever to perform readings on the air during the 1995 NBC television series "The Other Side" and quickly became the series favorite. Howard Rosenberg, the Los Angeles Time television critic dubbed Van Praagh's performances "spectacular." On December of 1997, Van Praagh also became the first medium to appear on Larry King Live to promote his first book Talking To Heaven. From 2002 to 2003, he hosted a syndicated daytime talk show entitled "Beyond With James Van Praagh" which is still seen around the world in syndication. He subsequently partnered with CBS to produce several TV-movies and mini-series based on his life and experiences, including "Living With The Dead" and "The Dead Will Tell." He developed and is currently the co-Executive Producer of the television series Ghost Whisperer on CBS and occasionally appears as a special correspondant for the CBS television series The Insider and Entertainment Tonight.
Early Life and Career
Van Praagh was born in Bayside, New York and is the youngest of four children. Raised Roman Catholic he attended seminary at the age of 14, however he has described himself as experiencing spiritual phenomena from a young age that eventually drew him away from conventional religious practice.
He graduated from San Francisco State University, majoring in Broadcasting and Communications and subsequently moved to Los Angeles. It was there that he first discovered an interest in metaphysics[1] and began working as a medium following a prediction by another medium who suggested it was his destiny. [2]
Van Praagh built his early career performing private readings and quickly graduated to wider audiences with a series of audiotapes, books, and eventually the television appearances that gave him national exposure.
Career as a Medium
Van Praagh says that through his mediumistic abilities he claims to receive messages from spirits and feelings about their presence that provide "detailed evidential proof that a loved one survived death." [2]
In 2002 he hosted his own daytime talk show "Beyond with Van Praagh" [3], in which he performs readings with audience members. His work continued to inspire his own brand of successful television shows with CBS and produced the mini series "Living With The Dead", "The Dead Will Tell" and the CBS drama "Ghost Whisperer".
Van Praagh also hosts regular seminars and workshops to assist others in developing spiritual awareness.
Books by James Van Praagh
- Talking to Heaven: A Medium's Message of Life After Death Published March 1999.
- Reaching to Heaven: A Spiritual Journey Through Life & Death Published 1999.
- Heaven & Earth: Making the Psychic Connection Published Sept 2006.
- Healing Grief: Reclaiming Life After Any Loss
- Meditation with James Van Praagh Published March 2004.
- Looking Beyond: A Teen's Guide to the Spiritual World Published Oct 2003.
- Ghosts Among Us Publisher HarperCollins May 2008