StopSylvia email "Sylvia Browne passing"

I received the following email at StopSylvia, with the subject "Sylvia Browne passing":

Quote:

Remove your website please, as Sylvia has passed on. Whether anyone believes she was a fraud or not, I'd appreciate if you'd respect her passing by removing the negativity, for her memory, be it good or bad, and for her family. There's no point for it to be up anymore. Regards.

My reply:

Quote:

[name]: Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me, but at present I have no intentions of closing the site down. Even though Browne has passed, I think that the site remains useful if only as warning. The fact that Browne, with absolutely NO evidence of any "psychic powers", could amass such a following and media presence shows that any other "media psychics" (such as John Edward, James vanPraagh and Teresa Caputo - the "Long Island Medium") should be closely examined for evidence of the same fraudulent stage techniques (such as "cold reading") which Browne used to successfully fool so many people into believing that she was "psychic". I also feel that the site, which strongly shows that there are FAR more reasons to doubt Browne' claimed "abilities" than there are reasons to believe in them, will help to prevent, or at least, to lessen, the effort that is likely to be put forth to make her more popular in death than she was in life (a frequent occurance when celebrities pass away). Also, the site is linked to from many web pages all over the web (particularly where Browne' "abilities" are being debated), and I do not want all of those links to suddenly stop working because I have closed the site. As far as "respecting her passing by removing the 'negativity': The site is a collection of FACTS, with supporting evidence of those facts. If the facts about Browne are "negativity", that is not my fault. And I believe them to be important facts in the effort to educate the public about the fraudulent practices of many (perhaps all) "psychics". Best regards, Robert S. Lancaster Founder & webmaster, www.StopSylvia.com

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