Product Description
by Susan Urbanek Linville (Author)
In 1956, when she was only four years old, Karen Heasley died on the operating table while having her tonsils removed. While she was dead, she traveled through a dark tunnel and felt a peace she hasn't felt since. It would be twenty years until she discovered the work of Raymond Moody and understood she had had a Near Death Experience. It also explained why she was sensitive to the spirits around her.
One hundred years before Karen's birth, in 1907, Lydia Marquette was the first medium to stand up for her rights to practice Spiritualism in New Castle, Pennsylvania. After suffering through a fortunetelling trial, she went on to help found a new religion in the flourishing steel town. She joined with the Johns family and Agnes Guthrie to become leaders who changed the culture of the city. Blessing from Agnes is based on true events. It interweaves the struggles of the early Spiritualists and Karen's efforts to remain "normal" in an old western Pennsylvania steel town. It follows her as she discovers her true calling and rids herself of the expectations of her community, church, and family to become a Spiritualist medium. The fight is not always easy, but like the Spiritualists who lived in New Castle one hundred years before, she is determined to succeed.Author Biography
Susan Urbanek Linville received a PhD in biology from the University of Dayton and has lectured as adjunct faculty. She has administrative experience as an assistant editor for a science journal, university outreach coordinator, and museum assistant administrator. As a freelance writer, she has published short fiction, newspaper and magazine articles, non-fiction books, and was a script writer for Indiana University's A Moment of Science podcast series. She is currently writing a weekly blog for the Spiritual Path Church in New Castle, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and four cats. Susan's nonfiction books include an African memoir, an Underground Railroad history, and historical neighborhood booklets. She has recently delved into the history of Spiritualism and has co-published a general book on Spiritualism and a book on early seers, mediums, and Spiritualists.
