StopSylvia email: "James Randi and Sylvia"

[RSLancastr]

Received the following email at StopSylvia.com, with the subject "James Randi and Sylvia":

James Randi exposed Sylvia Browne years ago and he's still doing it.

Search YouTube for - James Randi Sylvia Browne

Check out the James Randi Educational Foundation

My reply:

[name]:

Randi "exposed" Browne? How?

I know that she agreed to take Randi's Million Dollar Challenge on the Larry King Live Show on (if memory serves) September 3, 2001 (eight days before the 9/11/2001 WTC attack), but never did take it, after a string of lame excuses.

Is THAT what you mean by him "exposing" her?

I'm proud to say that Randi is a personal friend. He and I correspond frequently, often about Browne (he has been a supporter of my site from its inception in 2006), but he has never mentioned "exposing" her (like he did Uri Gellar and Peter Popoff back in the 70s and 80s), so I am very curious as to what you're referring to.

And yes, I am *very* familiar with the JREF, thanks. I have been posting on the JREF Forum since September 6, 2001 as RSLancastr (I had been an admirer of Randi back in the Gellar/Popoff days, but had not followed his exploits since then. It took seeing him (and Sylvia) on Larry King Live on 9/3/2001 to remind me to do a web search on his name, which led me to his site and the forum three days later.

In the years since then I have tried, in my own way, to emulate him, by bringing the activities of charlatans to the attention of the public.

If you look at Wikipedia's page on "Robert S. Lancaster", you'll see a picture of Randi presenting me with the JREF's first "Citizen Skeptic Award".

But thanks for making sure I was aware of Randi and the JREF.

Robert S. Lancaster
Founder & Webmaster,
www.StopSylvia.com

 

[Femke]

Somehow I find it funny that someone would point a prominent skeptic to this foundation, as if you would not know it.

It is good to hear, though, that s/he does so, hopefully they do it to others as well. And then maybe it puts someone else on the right track.
So another win for the good guys, I guess.

 

[RSLancastr]

Somehow I find it funny that someone would point a prominent skeptic to this foundation, as if you would not know it.

Yes, but near as funny as the email I sent to Randi back in 2001 (before I had met him, and only knew him from his 70's/80's TV appearances). I had only recently found this site and, after reading a couple of his Swift columns, I sent him an email asking him if he had heard of this John Edward character who had a TV show.

His reply was not quite this terse and rude, but the gist of it was:

Use the search feature, putz!

Suitably chastened, I used Swift's search feature and found more than a dozen issues where he had discussed Edward.

 

[Femke]

 

[kedo1981]

might have been just an over enthusiastic NOOB