StopSylviaBrowne - Louise Hay: Does She Endorse Sylvia Browne?

[RSLancastr]

New article up:

http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/louisehay.shtml
Louise Hay: Does She Endorse Sylvia Browne?
She has published many of Browne's books. But what does she think of her?

Not a lot of meat to it, but it addresses a question I am frequently asked.

[rjh01]

I think you have combined two things here that are hardly related.
1. Louise Hay's opinion of SB is unknown.
2. SB books are on special for unknown reasons.

There is a bit of speculation in the article but not much more.

One thing you have not said is how often does Louise Hay endorse any author? You give one example where she does. Is this a rare example or one of many?

[CFLarsen]

before another Sean Hornbeck-level mistake is made public

Psst... It's "Shawn" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Hornbeck), not "Sean". :)

[ExMinister]

Robert, I think the article is great and will serve a useful purpose - As you said, maybe not a lot of meat to it but it does provide a response to the many people, who don't e-mail you, who may be viewing your site with the idea that Hay endorses Sylvia Browne. Both Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer have publically endorsed the work of Esther and Jerry Hicks.

As I said in a different thread, I'm not sure how often Louise Hay endorses books but it seems infrequent. There are a few authors that it might be worthwhile to check. Dyer was promoting Hay's new movie/DVD at his lectures last year and repeatedly referred to her as a good friend. I'll stop by a Barnes & Noble today just out of curiosity and see if I can find other endorsements - I'll check her web site and check the backs of books by popular authors like Dyer, Byron Katie (sp?), Chopra, Bernie Siegel, Marianne Williamson and those who all seem to be teaching the same type of stuff and seem to be friends. There is also a book by (deceased) author Florence Shinn (sp?) that Louise Hay re-published because it had been inspirational to her. I'll let you know what I come up with.

[Empress]

Wow. Even woos know Sylvia's a crock. How do you know you've officially hit the bottom of the barrel? When even someone who says she loves a book called "Ask and It is Given" practically admits you're a fraud.

I know it's not nice to laugh at other's, but here's a "Ha-ha!" aimed straight at Browne.

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii227/cgwodehouse/nelson.jpg

[Locknar]

<snip> I'm not sure how often Louise Hay endorses books <snip>That could be a most interesting piece of information. Equally interesting would be to ask Louise Hay what her "policy" is related to endorsements.

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

You should have mentioned that besides just a book publication deal, Sylvia also has a radio show through Hay House and a few other commercial venues.

My powers of Lexis Nexis Fu can find absolutely no public comment Louise Hay has ever made about Sylvia Browne or, for that matter, anyone of her authors.

In fact, as far as I can tell, Louise Hay has given a grand total of 2 interviews to any major or minor paper in the world in her life. And one for the New Age Retailer.

[ExMinister]

I did go to Barnes & Noble. I did a pretty extensive search through the self-improvement and metaphysical sections and looked at the more popular authors and many of the New Age classics. What I found was that the same several authors do the majority of the endorsements on the back covers (Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Joan Borsyenko, Larry Dossey, Christiane Northrup among the more common names that came up), with variations depending on what type of New Age or self-help it is. For example, Marianne Williamson tends to endorse Course in Miracles related books, and the people interviewed on The Secret all seem to endorse each other's books.

I find it interesting that there are no endorsements on Sylvia Browne's books. The quotes on the back covers are written by Sylvia herself. I know of only two New Age personalities who have endorsed Sylvia's work (Carolyn Myss and Melvin Morse). Perhaps there are more, but I think I would have noticed.

However, Sylvia is one of the authors who wrote a story included in Louise Hay's book The Times of Our Lives. This could be considered somewhat of an endorsement, I suppose - though more logically it is only an endorsement of that one particular story (in fact, this was a story about Sylvia and her grandmother - I believe it's identical to the one she published in If You Could See What I See, but I'd have to check). Louise Hay did a blanket "thank you" to all the authors in the front of the book. There were over 25 "true" stories contributed by various Hay House authors for the book.

Anyway, as a result of all my searching I came up with 3 other books besides the one by the Hicks that were endorsed by Louise Hay on the back covers: Two were by Susan Jeffers, one by Florence Scovel Shinn.

On the back cover, Louise Hay wrote: "The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn helped me crystallize my own thinking and moved me forward on the path to where I am today."

On the back of Susan Jeffers books, Louise Hay wrote: "Living is taking chances and Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway has helped so many people, both men and women, to achieve success." And on the back of End the Struggle and Dance with Life, she wrote: "Susan Jeffers is a master of healing and this new book is a gem. Her way of looking at life is an inspiration to us all."

Neither of these authors were published by Hay House.

Of course, there may be more and it might be more productive to look in a New Age book store, but my impression is that Hay doesn't endorse all that often but that it isn't unheard of. That was my long-time impression, and what I found today seems to back it up.

[Locknar]

I did go to Barnes & Noble. <snip, for brevity>Interesting...though not a total surprise. Perhaps SB has a clause in her publishing contract. I know, sounds strange...but you don't see Montel, or other SB lackeys endorsing her stuff either.

I suppose the real question would be what is Hay's policy about endorsements; ie. what does she personally endorse?

BTW, nice job of researching EM. I'd tell RSL "nice job" too...but he expects it so I won't.

PS - Nice job RSL :)

[ExMinister]

Interesting...though not a total surprise. Perhaps SB has a clause in her publishing contract. I know, sounds strange...but you don't see Montel, or other SB lackeys endorsing her stuff either.

I suppose the real question would be what is Hay's policy about endorsements; ie. what does she personally endorse?

BTW, nice job of researching EM. I'd tell RSL "nice job" too...but he expects it so I won't.

PS - Nice job RSL :)

Oh yikes, I am glad you said that! Actually, the ONLY individual to endorse her books was Montel Williams - on the back of two or three of them as I recall. Sorry about that!

I guess that didn't strike me as significant because she's just a money-maker for him, obviously. But you are right to point out that the absence of an endorsement by him might have been significant. Unfortunately, I mis-stated that part. What would be the reason behind such a publishing clause as the one you mentioned, I'm curious?

And thanks for "nice job." I'm glad to do what a good groupie should do! :D

[RSLancastr]

There is a bit of speculation in the article but not much more.As I said, not much meat to it, but it was a topic which evidently interests many, based on emails I receive, so I addressed it in an article as best I could. I tried to be very clear that it was all speculation.

One thing you have not said is how often does Louise Hay endorse any author? You give one example where she does. Is this a rare example or one of many?I do not know.

Psst... It's "Shawn" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Hornbeck), not "Sean". :)Thanks, fixed. I've almost done that a number of times now. :mad:

Robert, I think the article is great and will serve a useful purpose - As you said, maybe not a lot of meat to it but it does provide a response to the many people, who don't e-mail you, who may be viewing your site with the idea that Hay endorses Sylvia Browne.Thanks, Ex-M.

Wow. Even woos know Sylvia's a crock. How do you know you've officially hit the bottom of the barrel? When even someone who says she loves a book called "Ask and It is Given" practically admits you're a fraud.:)

You should have mentioned that besides just a book publication deal, Sylvia also has a radio show through Hay House and a few other commercial venues.I considered doing so, but forgot. I don't think it hurts the article, though.

In fact, as far as I can tell, Louise Hay has given a grand total of 2 interviews to any major or minor paper in the world in her life. And one for the New Age Retailer.That would be surprising. Authors are generally interview-prone, whether they wish to be or not.

I did go to Barnes & Noble. I did a pretty extensive search through the self-improvement and metaphysical sections and looked at the more popular authors and many of the New Age classics.So, what sort of looks did you get, going through every New Age title in the store? :D

What I found was that the same several authors do the majority of the endorsements on the back covers (Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Joan Borsyenko, Larry Dossey, Christiane Northrup among the more common names that came up), with variations depending on what type of New Age or self-help it is.What l;ittle I've seen does seem fairly incestuous.

I find it interesting that there are no endorsements on Sylvia Browne's books. The quotes on the back covers are written by Sylvia herself. I know of only two New Age personalities who have endorsed Sylvia's work (Carolyn Myss and Melvin Morse). Perhaps there are more, but I think I would have noticed.Well, I know that she has had a quote from Montel on at least two of her books (the same quote), including Adventures of a Psychic.

However, Sylvia is one of the authors who wrote a story included in Louise Hay's book The Times of Our Lives. This could be considered somewhat of an endorsement, I supposeInteresting. I will look into this. Perhaps it should be mentioned in the article.

Of course, there may be more and it might be more productive to look in a New Age book store I could check out The Bodhi Tree in Hollywood, but it would take me a week to go through their stock.. :eek:

Thanks so much for the research, Ex-M!

Interesting...though not a total surprise. Perhaps SB has a clause in her publishing contract. I know, sounds strange...but you don't see Montel, or other SB lackeys endorsing her stuff either.Well, as I said above, there is a quote from Montel that she has used on at least two of her books. I'll dig it up when I get back to my research materials.

I suppose the real question would be what is Hay's policy about endorsements; ie. what does she personally endorse?It would definitely be interesting to find out.

PS - Nice job RSL :)Thanks, Locknar. :)

[ExMinister]

So, what sort of looks did you get, going through every New Age title in the store? :D

Well, as I said above, there is a quote from Montel that she has used on at least two of her books. I'll dig it up when I get back to my research materials.


Yes, that was interesting, especially since a lot of the time I was holding a copy of The End of Faith by Sam Harris!

To save you additional research, I found the Montel quotes. I checked all 22 books that I have, and only 4 are endorsed. One Montel quote is, "I've personally witnessed Sylvia Browne bring closure to distraught families, help the police close cases, and open people's hearts to help them see the good within themselves." This same quote appears on two different books. And Carolyn Myss actually endorsed the back of two (I had them at home; didn't see them at B&N), again with the same quote: "Sylvia Browne is a master at conveying the truth that exists in the fourth dimension." I know Melvin Morse wrote something about her, too. Like I said, those are the only two (make that three, if you include Montel) I know of who have publically endorsed her work, though obviously there may be more.

As it turns out, it's one Montel quote used three times. On the back of The Other Side and Back, published before the others, is the full quote: "Psychic, medium, clairvoyant, channel...these are all words to describe Sylvia Browne's unique powers. I've personally witnessed her bring closure to distraught families, help the police close cases, and open people's hearts to help them see the good within themselves."

[Locknar]

Well, as I said above, there is a quote from Montel that she has used on at least two of her books. I'll dig it up when I get back to my research materials.doh! I missed that, sorry about that.

I still suspect she has some kind of clause in her contract that gives her total control editing, cover, etc. Of course, this is just total speculation on my part...but as careful as she is in terms of her public image, seems to follow.

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

My guess about Louise Hay's near complete and total lack of media interviews is that the 2 articles she's ever agreed to take part in have been very critical of her.

The only other one she gave, other than The NYTimes one, was very skeptical about her claim to have cured her own cancer and several other of her claims:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2007/04/23/hlouise123.xml

I have to agree with the point about her plastic surgery; I often wonder the same thing about Deepak Chopra, who dyes his hair while yammering about anti-aging and naturalness.

I think we often make a mistake in accusing the media of not being skeptic enough of paranormal claims; they very often are, more so than the general public. That's the reason Sylvia Browne (admittedly) and Louise Hay (presumably) often avoid them alltogether.