Charles Fort (1874–1932) was a true iconoclast who embodied the idea of the cult writer in every sense of the term with his wildly entertaining prose and confounding research into the unknown. His early admirers formed the Fortean Society during his lifetime, in 1931, to elevate his work. Since that time, Fort's name has been synonymous with the strange, in large part due to the Fortean Times, published since 1973.
While Fort has received sustained attention over the years, Research is the first book to delve into his methodology and source material for his investigations into paranormal phenomena. In addition to Fort's . . . .go to book page >>

Comic legend Jackie Gleason (1916–87) was one of the biggest, most beloved and best paid stars of his time. His role as Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners remains a veritable classic of television's early days. As big as his star was, Gleason never shied away from one of his favorite, nonmainstream topics: the occult. A high school dropout with a photographic memory and a major case of insomnia, he was an avid reader and spiritual searcher who looked for answers in the most unexpected places. Gleason was also a confirmed skeptic who believed that some grand cosmic scheme existed, but . . . .go to book page >>

A born and bred New Yorker, Tony Schwartz (1923–2008) was enamored with his city. Though a popular campaign designer for Madison Avenue clients such as Johnson & Johnson and American Airlines, and later creating the sound for hundreds of political advertisements (including the infamous Daisy spot for Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 campaign), his first and truest love was the sounds of the streets around him. Using a reel-to-reel tape recorder, the agoraphobic Schwartz ventured only a few blocks from his Hell's Kitchen apartment yet captured an encyclopedia of sounds. Many of these tapes were broadcast on his perennial WNYC radio . . . .go to book page >>