A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
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Sylvia Browne and Literary "Borrowing"Phrases in one of Browne's books are identical to those written years earlier by another author. 
This 1998 magazine and Browne's 2005 book contain nearly-identical passages. BackgroundI have often wondered just how much of Sylvia Browne's books are actually written by Browne herself. Many of them are co-authored with other authors (Harrison Lindsay and Antoinette May among them). Was Browne a true co-author of these books, or did the others write them, with Browne's name on the cover to make them sell? Even with those books with only Browne's name on the cover, the same question is valid. Did she write them, or were they written by an uncredited author ("ghost-written" - a common occurence with celebrity books)? These questions occur to me not only because of the sheer volume of her books (four in 2006 alone: If You Could see What I See: The Tenets of Novus Spiritus, Exploring the Levels of Creation, Insight: Case Files from the Psychic World and The Mystical Life of Jesus: An Uncommon Perspective on the Life of Christ), but also because the command of the English language shown in the books seems to me to be far superior to the command of the language she demonstrates when speaking in person (an example of which was discussed in this article). Of course, when writing, a person has the luxury of editing and rewrites, which they do not have when speaking off the top of their head, but I would think that the person (or persons) who wrote those books would have a better spoken command of the language than that which Browne exhibits in her personal appearances. Another question which arises when an author produces as much material as Browne has: is it all original, or was some of it "borrowed" from other works? Joe Nickell Speaks UpIn 2005, Browne's book Secrets & Mysteries of the World was published. It contained Browne's "explanations" of all sorts of places, things and phenomena, including the famous "Shroud of Turin," a cloth said by some to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth. Later that year, an article appeared in Skeptical Inquirer magazine, in which author Joe Nickell showed some rather blatant similarities between Browne's "Shroud" analysis and that which Nickell had made in an article ("Science vs. `Shroud Science'") he had written some seven years earlier, published in the July/August 1998 edition of Skeptical Inquirer. Here are the relevant sections of Browne's and Nickell's text:
Here are those sections again, with color-highlighting to emphasize the "similarities."
AnalysisThis is not just a matter of ideas being the same. In my opinion, there can be no question but that the passage in Browne's book was blatantly copied, almost word-for-word, from Nickell's article. Further, the article was not even credited as a source in Browne's book (this is a frequent criticism of her books - little if any references are ever given). Is this plagiarism? I do not know if it meets the legal definition, but it certainly meets the dictionary definition:
Of course, this makes me wonder what else in that book was "borrowed" without permission from other sources, and passed off as Browne's own original work? And - what about her other books? How much "borrowing" do they contain? ConclusionDoes this have any bearing on whether or not Browne is a "real psychic?" Of course not. But, like her conviction for securities fraud, I think it is evidence of her character, and therefore something which should be taken into account when deciding whether or not she is a person whose word should be trusted. Related LinksClicking on any of these links will load a separate browser window for viewing the linked page. StopSylviaBrowne.com is not responsible for the content of any of these linked pages.
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