SYLVIA BROWNE Biography - Craftmen, artisans and people from other Occupations

 
 

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SYLVIA BROWNE

Name: Sylvia Browne                                                                 
Born: 19 October 1936 Kansas City, Missouri                                         
                                                                                     
Sylvia Browne (born Sylvia Celeste Shoemaker October 19, 1936) is a best-selling     
American author on the subject of spirituality and is a celebrity psychic and       
medium.                                                                             
                                                                                     
She is a weekly guest on The Montel Williams Show and hosts her own hour-long       
show on Hay House Radio, discussing paranormal issues and giving callers advice     
in her role as a psychic.                                                           
                                                                                     
Critics such as James Randi have argued that Browne uses mentalist techniques to     
produce the illusion of mind reading and clairvoyance. Reports about her false       
predictions and claims have appeared in several newspapers.                         
                                                                                     
Browne was born in Kansas City, Missouri to Bill and Celeste Shoemaker; she is       
the eldest of two daughters. Her father was Jewish and had many jobs                 
including mail delivery and jewelry salesman, and was vice president of a major     
freight line. Her mother was Episcopalian, and her maternal grandmother Ada         
Coil was a devout Lutheran. To establish stability; the family decided to           
convert to Roman Catholicism and they were all baptised together when Browne was     
a young girl, but Browne said in 2001 that she was Jewish.                           
                                                                                     
Browne says that visions started appearing when she was three years old and that     
her grandmother Ada Coil, who she said was a psychic medium, helped her             
understand why she had them. Browne also asserts that her great-uncle also says     
to be a psychic medium and was “rabid about UFOs.                                 
                                                                                     
Browne began giving psychic readings in 1974 and has attracted followings of         
supporters and detractors. She has given thousands of one-on-one readings and       
with a wide variety of groups and individuals; as of 2007, she charges $750 for     
a 20-30 minute telephone reading. Browne claims to have provided information         
to police departments and the FBI.                                                   
                                                                                     
She was married to Gary Dufresne from April 1959 until 1972, and is divorced         
from Kenzil Dalzell Brown. Sylvia acquired the surname Brown during the third of     
her four marriages, and enhanced it with a final e for her professional name.       
In September 2002 she and Larry Lee Beck ended their marriage.                       
                                                                                     
Sylvia says her son Christopher is psychic, and attributes this to a genetic         
predisposition. Her website says "If Sylvia is the best psychic around -             
then Chris is the second best."                                                     
                                                                                     
Browne likes to claim that she lives a modest life, but a public search of           
property shows that she owns several properties, houses, condos, and apartments     
in California alone worth in excess of US$15,000,000.00.