CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 4/9/2026

ESP, aliens and the afterlife in 'Jackie Gleason: Library of the Paranormal'

Most people know Jackie Gleason as a pioneer of 50s sit-com television. His role as Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners is as indelible as it is foundational. As an entertainer, Gleason was much more than that, also starring on his own variety show, playing iconic roles on stage and screen and composing popular albums of mood music. And yet. It would not be possible to understand this giant of midcentury Americana without acknowledging his library of books on the occult, psychic sciences and the “mysterious and unexplained phenomena of our time.” His collection of more than 3000 volumes—ranging from scholarly studies to pure pulp—has been condensed in this newest volume of esoterica from the Further Reading Library, Jackie Gleason: Library of the Paranormal. Featured here, Ted Owens’ How to Contact Space People, Saucerian Books, 1969.