No Friends of ‘Psychics’

Thanks to Brian Lowry for his excellent article about the “Crossing Over” show and others of that ilk (“Room for Doubt? There Ought to Be,” Sept. 4). For years, my good friend Michael Shermer has been in the front line battling the charlatans and has been looking for responsible representation in the media to present his point of view.

The James Randi Educational Foundation has held endless meetings with network executives in the past decade to discuss the possibility of a TV series to examine--and test--the talking-with-the-dead con artists, as well as faith-healers and other quacks.

Inevitably, the marketing reps have insisted that for them to support such a project, “at least 20% of it must be shown to be true.” This is simply not so, and the foundation has refused to promote or support that fiction.

However, we are presently contracting with a Korean network to produce a definitive investigative series in that country beginning before the end of the year, and an L.A.-based production company is seriously discussing with us a possible series here in the U.S. This is very encouraging.

People really do want to hear the truth. And it is “out there.”

JAMES RANDI

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.