THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
August 21, 2016
www.theparacast.com
Paul Davids Discusses the Clintons’ UFO Interests and Forrest J Ackerman on The Paracast
The Paracast is heard Sundays from 3:00 AM until 6:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, the Boost Radio Network, the IRN Internet Radio Network, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY A PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, and chat rooms when you sign up for The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes, the new Paracast+ Video Channel, episode transcripts, Special Features and Classic Episodes. Check out our new “Lifetime” membership! For more information about our premium package, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio.
This Week's Episode: Gene and Chris present Renaissance Man Paul Davids, an author, artist, filmmaker and amazing story teller. His latest work is “An Atheist in Heaven,” a follow-on to the DVD “The Life After Death Project,” which is heavily focused on synchronicities. Paul will also talk, at length, about his friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton, how he fed them UFO information over the years, and their reactions. He’ll also discuss his long-time friendship with the late sci-fi/fantasy/horror film fan/writer/editor Forrest J Ackerman. Paul will recount his study of possible attempts by Ackerman, a professed atheist, to communicate from beyond the grave. Gene will also reveal the time when, as a teenager, he hosted Ackerman at his parent’s apartment in Brooklyn, NY.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
Paul Davids’ Site: Home
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on August 21: Chris recalls his long-time friendship with Paul Davids, the guest on this week’s episode of The Paracast. When Chris mentions that Paul Davids was his landlord for a while, Gene mentions some of his favorite and less-favorite landlords over the years. The discussion moves to the intense polarization of society, where most people live in a bubble where they pay attention strictly to views and news coverage that confirms to their specific beliefs and/or expectations. Chris also provides a Ray Stanford update, as two chapters of the book he wrote with Chris, “and my dog sings Chopin,” were posted in The Paracast. There’s also a brief update on the San Luis Valley Camera Project, a project designed to set up a monitoring system for possible paranormal events.
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums.
Before I Became a Broadcaster
By Gene Steinberg
This is a personal story.
When I was 12, I was an overweight kid in Brooklyn, New York who stuttered. I can’t recall how I acquired that troublesome habit, but I was able to rid myself of the symptoms quickly enough and without therapy.
So I convinced, or browbeat my parents, to buy me a small tape recorder. I was a gadget freak even then, and I recall setting it up and testing it out. Once I began to listen to my voice, I was able to quickly rid myself of the stutter. There was no magic formula. I had no special abilities to diagnose my problem, except to listen carefully.
In passing, that simple tape recorder didn’t last very long before it stopped working, but it served its purpose. Later, my parents purchased a more expensive model that hung on for many years.
Segue to the mid-1960s, shortly before I began to study broadcasting. I lifted weights, ate less, and my weight tumbled from 250 to 185 pounds; I still weigh the same. I had already set up a tiny recording studio in my home to learn my craft. My parents looked on with amusement, indulging my particular interests. They hardly paid attention to my large collection of comic books and UFO titles, and for that I’m grateful.
Well, I was a regular reader of “Famous Monsters of Filmland,” a magazine for devotees of, as the title implies, horror films with an added dose of sci-fi fare that featured nasty-looking creatures of one sort or another.
The editor, sci-fi and fantasy legend Forrest J Ackerman, was planning to take a cross-country trip in advance of attending the World Science Fiction Convention in Washington, DC. It was all part of a special promotion where the reader would send a letter to the editor explaining why it would be a great idea for Forry to visit their home.
I was also busy refining my budding writing skills. I did my best, and my best evidently was good enough, because our little two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, New York was one of the homes selected for a visit from Forry. Several readers of the magazine were invited to join us.
Well, I moved a couple of tables around, collected some chairs, and set up a small recording studio in the living room that resembled the sort of setup you’d see on an all-night radio show, such as Long John Nebel. I had several mics, a rudimentary mixer, and a pair of tape recorders.
Forry came casually dressed, wearing the famous Bela Lugosi “Dracula” ring given to him personally by the late horror film actor. We had a light lunch, and I do not recall the menu. Probably sandwiches from a nearby deli. But it was all conversation. Forry spoke softly, responding to questions from the small group with detail and some funny anecdotes.
It was a fun session, and I assembled a presentable recording of the meeting. Remember, these were the days where you used physical tape, editing blocks and adhesive strips to cut and edit content. I did a decent job of it, and the audible results were fairly seamless with none of the thumps or clicks that reveal sloppy edits.
The recording might have had some historical value, if only for fans of Forry and perhaps for the individuals present to give to their families years later. As the small group departed, we exchanged addresses and phone numbers. I met Forry a couple of times more, and I sent him magazines and other material over the years.
As the decades passed, I accumulated a number of interesting recordings. Some were taped from a radio broadcast, and I had a smattering of episodes from Long John Nebel during the late 1950s and early 1960s. I also recorded several dozen of my own interviews with some of the notables in the UFO field over the years. They included Ray Palmer, Richard Shaver, Major Donald Keyhoe, J. Allen Hynek, Curtis and Mary Fuller and others.
Most were published in Caveat Emptor magazine, and I’ve long entertained the possibility of offering some of this material in a special collection. But there are no available digital versions, so I’d have to scan the pages and convert them to editable text. It’s an imperfect process that often requires careful editing to clean up the glitches. Indeed, I have already begun that process, but it may take months or years to finish it.
Some of the interviews I didn’t publish myself were sold to one magazine or another. One or two, including that interview with Major Keyhoe, went to one of the lesser supermarket tabloids. Lucky me, it all happened when the paper was suffering from financial difficulties. It soon folded. I do recall that the article was published, but I never got paid for it. It wouldn’t be the first time.
As for those recorded interviews, most were preserved on cassette tapes. But I have moved a number of times since then, and I fear most were lost in the confusion and clutter. I am preparing to move to another home soon, and I will have another chance to sort through a lot of old material to see if I can locate any that’d be suitable for The Paracast, or perhaps to transcribe into an article or two.
There may even be more material that will probably never be recovered.
During the 1970s, I had a brief career as a TV interviewer. I hosted weekly press conferences for a cable outlet in southeast Pennsylvania, serving Chester County. They were mostly live, and I doubt any of the episodes were preserved.
But I also hosted a paranormal TV show for the publisher of “Beyond Reality” magazine on a local access cable channel in New York City. Over the period of a few months, I interviewed some of the notables in UFO research, including Charles Berlitz. At the time, he was author of a best-seller, “The Bermuda Triangle.”
We soon became friends and, over the next few months, I guided him into the highways and byways of the legend of the Philadelphia Experiment. I lost touch with him shortly after he began to probe the Roswell incident with William Moore and Stanton Friedman.
My compensation for all those meetings with Berlitz consisted of little more than some free meals and a credit or two in his books. As to that TV show, well, I’m sure the recordings, which were kept by the magazine’s publisher, were lost or the tapes were recycled. Besides, I wasn’t that great a TV personality, so maybe it’s better that the tapes didn’t survive.
Of course I could be wrong. Perhaps I will one day awaken and discover a message bearing an email link from someone pointing to a YouTube video featuring a young Gene Steinberg wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a leisure suit. If any such thing turns up, I promise I will ask to take it down. I do not wish to subject my listeners to that level of torture.
Copyright 1999-2016 The Paracast LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!
August 21, 2016
www.theparacast.com
Paul Davids Discusses the Clintons’ UFO Interests and Forrest J Ackerman on The Paracast
The Paracast is heard Sundays from 3:00 AM until 6:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, the Boost Radio Network, the IRN Internet Radio Network, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY A PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, and chat rooms when you sign up for The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes, the new Paracast+ Video Channel, episode transcripts, Special Features and Classic Episodes. Check out our new “Lifetime” membership! For more information about our premium package, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio.
This Week's Episode: Gene and Chris present Renaissance Man Paul Davids, an author, artist, filmmaker and amazing story teller. His latest work is “An Atheist in Heaven,” a follow-on to the DVD “The Life After Death Project,” which is heavily focused on synchronicities. Paul will also talk, at length, about his friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton, how he fed them UFO information over the years, and their reactions. He’ll also discuss his long-time friendship with the late sci-fi/fantasy/horror film fan/writer/editor Forrest J Ackerman. Paul will recount his study of possible attempts by Ackerman, a professed atheist, to communicate from beyond the grave. Gene will also reveal the time when, as a teenager, he hosted Ackerman at his parent’s apartment in Brooklyn, NY.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
Paul Davids’ Site: Home
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on August 21: Chris recalls his long-time friendship with Paul Davids, the guest on this week’s episode of The Paracast. When Chris mentions that Paul Davids was his landlord for a while, Gene mentions some of his favorite and less-favorite landlords over the years. The discussion moves to the intense polarization of society, where most people live in a bubble where they pay attention strictly to views and news coverage that confirms to their specific beliefs and/or expectations. Chris also provides a Ray Stanford update, as two chapters of the book he wrote with Chris, “and my dog sings Chopin,” were posted in The Paracast. There’s also a brief update on the San Luis Valley Camera Project, a project designed to set up a monitoring system for possible paranormal events.
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums.
Before I Became a Broadcaster
By Gene Steinberg
This is a personal story.
When I was 12, I was an overweight kid in Brooklyn, New York who stuttered. I can’t recall how I acquired that troublesome habit, but I was able to rid myself of the symptoms quickly enough and without therapy.
So I convinced, or browbeat my parents, to buy me a small tape recorder. I was a gadget freak even then, and I recall setting it up and testing it out. Once I began to listen to my voice, I was able to quickly rid myself of the stutter. There was no magic formula. I had no special abilities to diagnose my problem, except to listen carefully.
In passing, that simple tape recorder didn’t last very long before it stopped working, but it served its purpose. Later, my parents purchased a more expensive model that hung on for many years.
Segue to the mid-1960s, shortly before I began to study broadcasting. I lifted weights, ate less, and my weight tumbled from 250 to 185 pounds; I still weigh the same. I had already set up a tiny recording studio in my home to learn my craft. My parents looked on with amusement, indulging my particular interests. They hardly paid attention to my large collection of comic books and UFO titles, and for that I’m grateful.
Well, I was a regular reader of “Famous Monsters of Filmland,” a magazine for devotees of, as the title implies, horror films with an added dose of sci-fi fare that featured nasty-looking creatures of one sort or another.
The editor, sci-fi and fantasy legend Forrest J Ackerman, was planning to take a cross-country trip in advance of attending the World Science Fiction Convention in Washington, DC. It was all part of a special promotion where the reader would send a letter to the editor explaining why it would be a great idea for Forry to visit their home.
I was also busy refining my budding writing skills. I did my best, and my best evidently was good enough, because our little two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, New York was one of the homes selected for a visit from Forry. Several readers of the magazine were invited to join us.
Well, I moved a couple of tables around, collected some chairs, and set up a small recording studio in the living room that resembled the sort of setup you’d see on an all-night radio show, such as Long John Nebel. I had several mics, a rudimentary mixer, and a pair of tape recorders.
Forry came casually dressed, wearing the famous Bela Lugosi “Dracula” ring given to him personally by the late horror film actor. We had a light lunch, and I do not recall the menu. Probably sandwiches from a nearby deli. But it was all conversation. Forry spoke softly, responding to questions from the small group with detail and some funny anecdotes.
It was a fun session, and I assembled a presentable recording of the meeting. Remember, these were the days where you used physical tape, editing blocks and adhesive strips to cut and edit content. I did a decent job of it, and the audible results were fairly seamless with none of the thumps or clicks that reveal sloppy edits.
The recording might have had some historical value, if only for fans of Forry and perhaps for the individuals present to give to their families years later. As the small group departed, we exchanged addresses and phone numbers. I met Forry a couple of times more, and I sent him magazines and other material over the years.
As the decades passed, I accumulated a number of interesting recordings. Some were taped from a radio broadcast, and I had a smattering of episodes from Long John Nebel during the late 1950s and early 1960s. I also recorded several dozen of my own interviews with some of the notables in the UFO field over the years. They included Ray Palmer, Richard Shaver, Major Donald Keyhoe, J. Allen Hynek, Curtis and Mary Fuller and others.
Most were published in Caveat Emptor magazine, and I’ve long entertained the possibility of offering some of this material in a special collection. But there are no available digital versions, so I’d have to scan the pages and convert them to editable text. It’s an imperfect process that often requires careful editing to clean up the glitches. Indeed, I have already begun that process, but it may take months or years to finish it.
Some of the interviews I didn’t publish myself were sold to one magazine or another. One or two, including that interview with Major Keyhoe, went to one of the lesser supermarket tabloids. Lucky me, it all happened when the paper was suffering from financial difficulties. It soon folded. I do recall that the article was published, but I never got paid for it. It wouldn’t be the first time.
As for those recorded interviews, most were preserved on cassette tapes. But I have moved a number of times since then, and I fear most were lost in the confusion and clutter. I am preparing to move to another home soon, and I will have another chance to sort through a lot of old material to see if I can locate any that’d be suitable for The Paracast, or perhaps to transcribe into an article or two.
There may even be more material that will probably never be recovered.
During the 1970s, I had a brief career as a TV interviewer. I hosted weekly press conferences for a cable outlet in southeast Pennsylvania, serving Chester County. They were mostly live, and I doubt any of the episodes were preserved.
But I also hosted a paranormal TV show for the publisher of “Beyond Reality” magazine on a local access cable channel in New York City. Over the period of a few months, I interviewed some of the notables in UFO research, including Charles Berlitz. At the time, he was author of a best-seller, “The Bermuda Triangle.”
We soon became friends and, over the next few months, I guided him into the highways and byways of the legend of the Philadelphia Experiment. I lost touch with him shortly after he began to probe the Roswell incident with William Moore and Stanton Friedman.
My compensation for all those meetings with Berlitz consisted of little more than some free meals and a credit or two in his books. As to that TV show, well, I’m sure the recordings, which were kept by the magazine’s publisher, were lost or the tapes were recycled. Besides, I wasn’t that great a TV personality, so maybe it’s better that the tapes didn’t survive.
Of course I could be wrong. Perhaps I will one day awaken and discover a message bearing an email link from someone pointing to a YouTube video featuring a young Gene Steinberg wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a leisure suit. If any such thing turns up, I promise I will ask to take it down. I do not wish to subject my listeners to that level of torture.
Copyright 1999-2016 The Paracast LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!
