Allen Spraggett (26 March 1932 – 19 July 2022) was a Canadian writer and broadcaster, known for his works concerning the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

Biography

During the 1950s, Spraggett was a minister of the Open Door Evangelical Church. He transferred to the United Church of Canada to become a minister there, then worked as the religion editor of ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

''. In the 1970s, he wrote ''The Unexplained'', a syndicated newspaper column concerning the paranormal. In 1975, Spraggett hosted a Canadian television show called ''E.S.P.'' In 1976,

M. Lamar Keene Morris Lamar Keene (10 August 1936 – 11 June 1996), was a spirit medium in Tampa, Florida and at Camp Chesterfield Indiana, where he was known as the "Prince of the Spiritualists". He was also the trustee of Universal Spiritualist Association. H ...

co-authored a self-expose of fraudulent mediumship, ''The Psychic Mafia'' "as told to" Allen Spraggett. Spraggett was host of the CBC television quiz show '' Beyond Reason'' from 1977 to 1980. He also hosted the radio shows ''Sun Spots'' and ''The Unexplained'' on

CFRB CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. CFRB is a clea ...

in Toronto. Article originated from the ''

''. In 1979, he was charged with two counts of gross indecency, based on allegations by youths from Winnipeg. Spraggett was acquitted of these charges in April 1980. However, he had difficulty in resuming his broadcasting and writing career after that trial. Article originated from the ''

''. During the early 1980s Spraggett provided the daily horoscope forecasts for the Pete and Geets morning drive show on

CFNY CFNY-FM (''102.1 the Edge'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 Hertz, MHz in the Greater Toronto Area, licensed to the suburb of Brampton, Ontario, Brampton. CFNY plays an alternative rock format. Owned by Corus Entertainment, it ...

FM in Toronto. Spraggett was a believer in

faith healing Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...

and wrote a biography of

Kathryn Kuhlman Kathryn Kuhlman (May 9, 1907 - February 20, 1976) was an American evangelist who is best known as a 'faith healer' who hosted healing services. Early and personal life Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman was born near Concordia, Missouri to German-American ...

. He described Kuhlman as the "greatest faith healer since Biblical times."Onofrio, Jan. (1999). ''Pennsylvania Biographical Dictionary''. Somerset Publishers. p. 667.

Reception

Bibliography

* ''The Unexplained'' (1967) * ''The Bishop Pike Story'' (1970) * ''Kathryn Kuhlman : The Woman who Believes in Miracles'' (1970) * ''Probing the Unexplained'' (1971) * ''Arthur Ford, The Man Who Talked with the Dead'' (1973) * ''The Case for Immortality'' (1974) * ''The World of the Unexplained'' (1974) * ''The Spiritual Frontier'' (1975, co-writer with William Rauscher) * ''New Worlds of the Unexplained'' (1976) * ''The Psychic Mafia'' (1976, co-writer with

) * ''Ross Peterson: The New Edgar Cayce'' (1977)

References

External links

* 1932 births 2022 deaths Canadian columnists Canadian occult writers Canadian television hosts Parapsychologists Writers from Toronto {{Canada-nonfiction-writer-stub