About the Author

Hello,

My traditional bio tells you that I am a Licensed Psychologist and University Professor. Going back in time, I am a graduate of Oberlin College, followed by the Ph.D. from Indiana University, and then post-docs and clinical training from the University of Iowa and the University of Texas at Austin. I was the director of a counseling program for about two years after which I accepted an academic position at the University of Idaho where I have taught for about the past 35 years.

All of this is a pretty traditional beginning, however it was my clinical practice that led me in some very decidedly non-traditional directions. About fifteen years ago I began working with an older woman who was poor, with about a 7th grade limited education, and who was on the margin of society. As a child she was a goat shepherd in the mountains of Idaho. But appearances were deceptive, because although Betty (the pseudonym used in the book) might have seemed simple, she had a lifetime of direct spiritual experience and was, as William James might have said, a virtuoso in the world of the spirit. I worked with her for more than two years, up until her death, not as a therapist but more as a collaborator. Our relationship gave me a sensitivity to the spiritual experiences of my clients and to my astonishment, and just as if a door were opened, I soon began to receive story after story from many of my clients, of experiences and events that all pointed to a spiritual reality different from and above our material world.

These stories, true to those who told them to me and faithful to their source, are the basis for The Spirit Transcendent.

The Spirit Transcendent left me with many unanswered questions, about the nature of God, the soul and the limitations of materialism. My current project, The Queen of Heaven: A Metaphysical Comedy (forthcoming) continues the exploration in the form of satirical speculative fiction.