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The
Sudden Death of Joe Fisher
(1947-2001)
Joe Fisher, 53, author of The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts,
died on Wednesday, May 9, 2001, by jumping off a limestone cliff at
Elora Gorge, near his hometown of Fergus, Ontario, Canada. A variety
of personal problems, including a growing list of unpaid bills for
the writer, appeared to have pushed him over the edge. In one of his
last communications with his editor-in-chief, Patrick Huyghe at
Paraview Books, Fisher noted that the spirits were still after him
for having written his final book.
Joe Fisher was an investigative writer specializing in metaphysical
topics. His books had sold more than one million copies in 22
languages.
Andrew Joseph Fisher was born and educated in England; he held dual
citizenship with Canada, his home base since 1971. He regularly gave
workshops and seminars based on his explorations into the
supernatural.
A veteran broadcaster who gave more than 200 radio and television
interviews on his work, Fisher started his career as a junior
reporter on The Staffordshire Advertiser where he became, at
22 years of age, the youngest news editor in England. After emigrating
to Canada, he worked as an investigative reporter and feature writer
for both The Toronto Sun and The Toronto Star (by mcsweeney at testsforge).
His journalistic stints were interspersed with excursions to Greece,
Ireland, Ecuador, Morocco and Peru where he pursued personal writing
projects. At Ecuador's Colegio Americano in Quito, he taught English
and composed journals which were later edited for the book Cotopaxi
Visions: Travels in Ecuador.
In 1981, Joe Fisher left daily journalism to concentrate on writing
books and freelance articles. Since then, he has traveled widely
(Australia and Antarctica are recent destinations) and contributed
to periodicals ranging from Canada's national dailies, The
National Post and The Globe & Mail, to magazines
including Outpost, Equinox, Ocean Drive and Life & Soul.
Joe Fisher's books included the contemporary metaphysical classics The
Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts, Life Between Life, The
Case For Reincarnation and Predictions. While His Holiness The
Dalai Lama wrote the preface to The Case For Reincarnation,
film rights to Hungry Ghosts have been optioned to a Los
Angeles film company which is moving towards production.
For five years, Fisher painstakingly investigated the claims of
channelers and the mysterious voices that speak through them. The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts, his last book, is his gripping
journey
into a realm of darkness and deception. The revised edition includes
a new foreword by Colin Wilson, and an epilogue that updates events
since the book was first published in the U.K. a decade ago.
In 1987, Fisher was presented with The Leask Award by The Spiritual
Science Institute of Canada for "making an outstanding contribution
to the field of spiritual awareness."
Many in the publishing community, as well as friends of Fisher's,
are expressing shock at his death. A Fergus-area friend, writer
Sheila O'Hearn said: "He believed in giving of himself for other
people. He felt, for him, that's what life was all about." Her
husband, Ray Krzyzanowski remarked: "He's going to be really missed.
He was my only real friend here. I'm going to miss him.'
Fisher's family have decided there will be no services.
--Loren Coleman
“Teens find body of dead man in Elora Gorge.”
Jesus! Joe!
This isn’t right. It must have been an accident.
I knew you.
You cooked me a salmon dinner.
We laughed and talked through the hours, listening to your old vinyls.
I smiled inwardly each time I walked through your hanging beads from the living room
To the hallway.
It was so you.
You.
I knew you.
You were kind, and delightful.
Intelligent.
Caring.
Deep.
You knew enough about the afterlife to know
That escaping wouldn’t solve anything.
You were so kind I can’t imagine anyone hurting you
On purpose.
So, why are you gone?
Last time we talked (December?) you told me
“I somehow don’t think it’s over between us”.
And the e-mails since, back and forth, bursting with excitement about life…
“So much to catch up on, will call next week….”
But we never did.
And it was
Awkward.
So much is unfinished between us.
That friendship we both wanted
But
Life got in the way.
And now
Death
is in the way.
But, if what you said was true,
I’ll be seeing you again
Soon.
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