Biography for David J. PitkinFollowing a first experience with a ghost in 1968, retired teacher and author David J. Pitkin has sought understanding of the mysteries surrounding life and death. In the process, he has written 9 books, beginning with Saratoga County Ghosts in 1998. Fascinated with the unconscious mind and on evidence for consciousness surviving body death, he published his first metaphysical novel, The Highest Mountain, in 2007. He also has completed two books of New York State ghost stories, and one detailing over 200 tales in the northeast US and Canada. In the process, he has interviewed over 1,900 people, whose stories make up his fascinating rendition of ghost stories. "My motto is: enlighten, don't frighten," he states. Pitkin recently completed and published New England Ghosts, and a feature story based on two New Hampshire stories from the book ("What's It Like to Talk With Ghosts") appears in the Sept/Oct 2012 issue of Yankee Magazine.Conducting investigations for forty years at many reputedly haunted sites in New York State, the New England states and Canada, he has become a philosopher lecturing on death and its aftermath. A resident of Chestertown, NY, Pitkin lectures widely on parapsychology and metaphysical themes, including ghost stories. He studied dream analysis with Dr. Montague Ullman and facilitated a dream study group for eleven years. Pitkin believes many dreams of the departed are genuine ghost or spirit contacts. He holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Social Studies Education from S.U.N.Y., Albany, and a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology from Goddard College, Plainfield, VT. He is also a professional numerologist.