About Me
I like to consider myself a generalist and educator, though I've mainly focused on field investigation and have been consistently pegged by the media as a "ghost" guy. I started a group/network of field investigators in 1989 (the Office of Paranormal Investigations), essentially to take up the slack from the JFK University Graduate Parapsychology Program which was ended in the late 1980s.
Education in Parapsychology is of tantamount importance to me.
I hold an MS in Parapsychology from John F. Kennedy University (1981), was on the Core Faculty of that program from 1983 until its demise in the late 80s, and have been continually on faculty there, even as JFKU was merged into National University (January 2021),. As of 2023, I am no longer on the faculty (of National University). Over the years at JFKU, besides Parapsychology I've also taught Public Speaking, Anthropology, Science Fiction, the Philosophy of Time, and courses on Public Speaking, Media Skills, and Publishing.
I was appointed to the faculty of Atlantic University in 2010, and have been teaching an online Parapsychology graduate course since then
I have been teaching online Parapsychology courses for the Rhine Education Center since 2014, building several of them for the online classroom, and have collaborated with John Kruth to set up programs directed at field investigators and research on spontaneous psi. The courses are offered either for a grade/towards a certificate, or for audit.
I taught a local and distance non-academic Parapsychological Studies program through HCH Institute in Lafayette, CA since 2005 through 2018.
In January 2012, I was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Rhine Research Center, and Vice-President of the Board in June 2020. As of May 2023, I am President of the Board.
I am in my sixth term as President of the Forever Family Foundation, beginning in 2013.
I have been on the advisory boards of the Windbridge Research Center and the Forever Family Foundation.
I've had 9 psi-related books published as of the end of 2022, including ESP WARS: EAST AND WEST:An Account of the Military Use of Psychic Espionage as Narrated by the Key Russian and American Players,co-authored by Edwin C. May, Victor Rubelm & Joseph McMoneagle. In 2017, Llewellyn published a revised edition of Psychic Dreaming and a reprint of MIND OVER MATTER. In late 2015, I releasedSELF-PUBLISHING: IT AIN'T ROCKET SCIENCE, co-authored by mystery writer Richard L. Wren. I was a columnist for FATE magazine from 1991 to 2004.
My first steps into published fiction happened with the October 2020 publication of the paranormal-themed mystery novel NEAR DEATH: A Raney/Daye Investigation,which I co-authored with Rich Hosek and Arnold Rudnick. In January 2023, we published the second novel in the series, AFTER LIFE. We are currently working on the next mystery in the series, FAR SIGHT.
In the early 80s, I worked as the Public Information and Media Consultant to the ASPR I've been involved in media coverage and TV series and specials over the years, trying to reign in some of the poor (and downright false) information presented about our field. I have been featured in numerous television programs, and thousands of interviews on radio, podcasts, and in print and web-publications. As an aside, my media experience comes naturally, as my father (Dick Auerbach) was a producer for NBC and independently, his brother (Larry Auerbach) was a director of soap operas for decades, and my mother's brother (Herb Norman) was a radio newscaster for WMCA radion in NY City.
Over the last several years, I have been working with others across the country to try to bring some sense of connection between the amateur “paranormal community” and those in the scientific field of parapsychology – which I hope will lead to greater support for the field. However, this is a difficult task given the disconnect between the "paranormal" and parapsychology in the minds of the hobbyists and amateurs. This is where our educational outreach (such as what is offered by the Rhine) is making a little headway.
Encouraged heartily by the late Chuck Honorton, I was a professional/performing magician from the early 80s through the early 90s, when I switched over to mentalism and psychic entertainment (after being pushed to do so by the late Marcello Truzzi) I joined the Psychic Entertainers Association in 1997, and was elected President in 2001 (through 2005), and served on the Board for several more years. I serve as the annual meeting planner. I have occasionally consulted with others in Parapsychology from my perspective as a magician/mentalist (since 1982) and am always open to working with my colleagues in that capacity.
I perform professionally as Professor Paranormal.
I have had a "day job" to support my other work, for years working as a corporate trainer/presenter for online information provider LexisNexis (1984-2006), Between 2007 and mid-2017, I worked managing an electronic journals collection and online catalog for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and as a temp law firm librarian as well as a public speaking coach.
In August 2017, I returned to LexisNexis as a Librarian Relations Consultant -- now "Knowledge & Research Consultant" -- for information specialists and librarians at large law firms headquartered in the western states. This is the current "day job," supporting my work and teaching in parapsychology.
In 2009, while continuing to research a book on Chocolate (which I'll get done one of these days), I completed a Professional Chocolatier course (Ecole Chocolat, Vancouver, BC) and in 2010 began making and selling my first chocolate products (www.hauntedbychocolate.com). While not producing chocolate for sale that often these days, I do continue to offer guided chocolate tasting presentations.
I hold a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Northwestern University, where I focused much of my coursework on supernatural / magic folklore and beliefs (and where I also volunteered for J. Allen Hynek's Center for UFO Studies, in his home in Evanston, IL, at the time).
My X (Twitter) handles are @profparanormal and @loydauerbach and I'm on Threads as profparanormal.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/loyd.auerbach.author
YouTube channels: www.youtube.com/profparanormal (lectures) / www.youtube.com/loydauerbach (TV appearances) and a new channel for my every other Sunday live Q&A sessions www.youtube.com/@askprofessorparanormal (recordings available)
Email: profparanormal@gmail.com