Books Contributed To



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Christianity in the Light of Science
Christianity in the Light of Science: Critically Examining the World's Largest Religion. Edited by Jown W. Loftus. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2016. For this compendium of critiques on science and religion, I wrote the final chapter, "The Turin Shroud: A Postmortem."




Celebration of WNY Poets
A Celebration of Western New York Poets. Edited by Patricia Tansey. Buffalo, NY: Buffalo Legacy Publications, 2016. An anthology of over ninety poets, containing 4 of my works: "The Gift, Among the Wildflowers"; "The Fortune Teller"; "The Discovered Daughter"; and "The Wait."




Hoax
Hoax: Hitler's Diaries, Lincoln's Assassins, and Other Famous Frauds. By Edward Steers Jr. Lexington Ky: University Press of Kentucky, 2013. I wrote the Foreword for this treatise on archaeological fakes and historical deceptions, written by a molecular biochemist turned acclaimed historian.




Who Believes in Roswell?
Who Believes In Roswell: Discovering the Profile of the Roswell Believer. By Frank Borzellieri. Foreword by George Noory. New York: Western Academic Press, 2011. Along with Roswell believers Stanton Friedman and Tom Carey, and fellow skeptic Michael Shermer, I provide commentary on the findings of this survey.



La Scienza dei Mostri
La Scienza dei Mostri. Edited by Massimo Polidoro. Padova, Italy: CICAP, 2011. To this treatise on monsters I contributed a chapter on human "monsters" titled "Freaks!"





Still Empty Chair
The Still Empty Chair: More Writings Inspired by Flight 3407. Edited by Gunilla Theander Kester and Gary Earl Ross. Buffalo: The Writer's Den, 2011. These works on the crash of a tragic Continental Airlines flight at Clarence Center, N.Y., February 12, 2009, include my poem, "Death Bird."




Why Statues Weep
Why Statues Weep: The Best of The Skeptic. Edited by Wendy M. Grossman and Christopher C. French. London: The Philosophy Press, 2010. Among these selections from Britain's foremost skeptical magazine, is an interview with me by Steve Donnelly, "Explaining the Shroud."




Kids Who See Ghosts
Kids Who See Ghosts: How to Guide Them Through Fear. By Caron B. Goode. San Francisco: Weiser Books, 2010. Among the interviewees who include intuitives, mediums, and the like, I provide "The Skeptic's View."




Indigatorio del Mistero
Indagatori del mistero: 1999-2009. Edited by Massimo Polidoro and Luigi Garlaschelli. Padova, Italy: CICAP, 2009. Collection of investigatory reports, published by the famous Italian Skeptics group, which includes my cold-case investigation of The Flatwoods Monster—obviously making me an honorary Italian.




Science Under Siege
Science Under Siege: Defending Science, Exposing Pseudoscience. Edited by Kendrick Frazier. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2009. Among the entries (all reprinted from Skeptical Inquirer), mine is "Undercover Among the Spirits: Investigating Camp Chesterfield."




Science to the Rescue
Science to the Rescue. Edited by Benjamin Radford. Amherst, NY: Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, 2008. I contribute two investigative articles to this slim compendium of articles form Skeptical Inquirer: "Chasing Champ: Legend of the Lake Champlain Monster" and "Intuition: The Case of the Unknown Daughter."




Crossing Lines
Crossing Lines: Poets Who Came to Canada in the Vietnam War Era. Edited by Allen Briesmaster and Steven Michael Berzensky. Hamilton, ON : Seraphim Editions, 2008. A collection of poems by American War resisters and exiles -- some, like myself, federal fugitives for refusing to participate in the Vietnam tragedy. My contibutions are a longish poem, "Hidden Places," and a short one, "The War Pilots."



New Encyclopedia of Unbelief
The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief. Edited by Tom Flynn. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007. I contributed the following entries: "Conjuring and Belief in the Supernatural," "Miraculous Phenomena," and "Shroud of Turin, Belief in," as well as being cited in several entries.




Hauntings and Poltergeists
Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by James Houran and Rense Lange. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2007. Among articles by believers and disbelievers in ghostly phenomena, I contributed a skeptical investigator's overview, titled "Phantoms, Frauds, or Fantasies?"




Paranormal Claims
Paranormal Claims: A Critical Analysis. Edited by Brian Farha. New York: University Press of America, 2007. Contains reprints from Skeptical Inquirer, including my "Benny Hinn: Healer or Hypnotist?" from the issue of May/June 2002: 14-17.




In Search of Hannah Crafts
In Search of Hannah Crafts : Critical Essays on The Bondwoman's Narrative. Edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Hollis Robbins. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2004. Several scholars weigh in on the question of Hannah Crafts' identity: Was she really an escaped slave turned novelist or perhaps an abolitionist who adopted the persona of a slave? My essay is titled "Searching for Hannah Crafts."



Science and Religion
Science and Religion : Are They Compatible? Edited by Paul Kurtz, Barry Karr, Ranjit Sandhu. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2003. I appear with such luminaries, and friends, as Eugenie Scott, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Victor J. Stenger. My chapter is "Science versus Shroud Science."




The Bondwoman's Narrative
The Bondwoman's Narrative. By Hannah Crafts; edited Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Warner Books, 2002. My investigative report -- authenticating the original manuscript as genuinely produced ca. 1855-1861 -- is included as an appendix to this novel by an as yet unidentified writer. I analyzed ink, paper, handwriting, and other features in my capacity as a historical document consultant.



Skeptical Odysseys
Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the World's Leading Paranormal Inquirers. Edited by Paul Kurtz. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2001. Thirty-seven skeptics write on varied topics for this volume issued on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (now Committee for Skeptical Inquiry). My entry is a a biographical sketch, "Adventures of a Paranormal Investigator."


Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters
Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters: a Definitive, Illustrated A-Z Guide to All Things Alien. Edited by Ronald Story. New York: New American Library, 2001. My entries in this occasionally flawed reference work -- which has contributions by ufologists and skeptical ufologists alike -- include "Alien Autopsy Film," "Alien Iconography," "Nasca 'Spaceport' : Another View," and others. My biographical entry is followed by a "Position Statement" on UFOs.


Careers for New Agers
Careers for New Agers & Other Cosmic Types. By Blythe Camenson. Lincolnwood, IL: VGN Career Books, 2001. I appear in the chapter on "Third-Eye Private Eyes," subsection titled "Firsthand Account: Joe Nickell, Paranormal Investigator" -- a lengthy interview.




Bizarre Cases
Bizarre Cases. Edited by Benjamin Radford. Amherst, NY : Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, 2000. A collection of critcal writings on the paranormal from Skeptical Inquirer science magazine. My investigative articles are "Extraterrestrial Iconography," "Alien Implants: The New 'Hard Evidence,'" "Ghostly Photos," and "The Case of the Petrified Girl."



Encounters with the Paranormal
Encounters with the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and Belief. Edited by Kendrick Frazier. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998. Another Skeptical Inquirer collection -- my entry being "Not-So-Spontaneous Human Combustion."




Careers for Legal Eagles
Careers for Legal Eagles & Other Law and Order Types. By Blythe Camenson. Lincolnwood, IL: VGN Career Horizons, 1998. I am represented here with an interview in the chapter on Private Investigators, subsection "What It's Really Like: Joe Nickell -- Undercover Investigator."




Careers for Mystery Buffs
Careers for Mystery Buffs & Other Snoops and Sleuths. By Blythe Camenson. Lincolnwood, IL: VGN Career Horizons, 1997. Interviews with me make up sections titled "Undercover Work" and "Joe Nickell, Paranormal Investigator."




Real People Working in the Law
Real People Working in Law. By Blythe Camenson. Lincolnwood, IL: VGN Career Horizons, 1997. Publisher's On the Job Series including a section of Chapter 7 ("Private Detectives and Investigators") titled "Interview: Joe Nickell -- Investigator."




Encyclopedia of the Paranormal
Encyclopedia of the Paranormal. By Gordon Stein. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1996. For this compendium I wrote the entries on "Crop Circles", "'Miraculous' Phenomena", "Shroud of Turin", and "Spontaneous Human Combustion."




Who Was Jack the Ripper?
Who Was Jack the Ripper? A Collection of Present-Day Theories and Observations. Edited by Camille Wolff. London: Grey House Books, 1995. My contribution as a Ripperologist deals with who Jack the Ripper was not. He was not one James Maybrick, alleged author of the infamous Jack the Ripper Diary; I was on the American team that proved the diary an amateurish forgery.



Elijah Craig and His Paper Mill
Elijah Craig and His Paper Mill. Edited by Ann Bolton Berins. Georgetown, Ky.: the Georgetown and Scott County Museum, 1994. One of five contributors, I have these entries: "Chronology of the Craig, Parkers & Company Paper Mill"; "Watermarks and Other Relics of the Historic Paper Mill"; and "A Likeness of the Old Mill" (including drawings reconstructing the appearance of the 1793 historic mill).



Encyclopedia of Hoaxes
Encyclopedia of Hoaxes. Edited by Gordon Stein. Detroit: Gale Research, 1993. My contributions include entries on "Ambrose Bierce and Derivative Disappearance Hoaxes," "Poltergeist Hoaxes," "The Shroud of Turin," "The Beale Treasure," and others.




The Kentucky Encyclopedia
The Kentucky Encyclopedia. By John E. Kleber; Kentucky Bicentennial Commission. Lexington KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1992. For Kentucky's bicentennial in 1992 this comprehensive encyclopedia included contributors from across the Commonwealth. My entries include "Daniel Boone," "Frank and Jesse James," "Morgan County," and others, including (as co-author) "Kentucky Rifle."



Kentucky Illustrated
Kentucky Illustrated : The First Hundred Years. By Martin F. Schmidt. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1992. For this collection of early illustrations I was commissioned by the press to write a short treatise, "The Techniques of Printed Illustration."




The Hundredth Monkey
The Hundredth Monkey and Other Paradigms of the Paranormal. Edited by Kendrick Frazier. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1991. "A Skeptical Inquirer Collection," my selection (with co-author John F. Fischer) being, "Incredible Cremations: Investigating Spontaneous Human Combustion Deaths."




The Roswell Report
The Roswell Report: A Historical Perspective. Edited by George M. Eberhart. Chicago: J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, 1991. A collection of generally pro-UFO articles on the alleged flying-saucer crash at Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. With co-author John F. Fischer I analyze "The Crashed-Saucer Forgeries" (the so-called "MJ-12" documents).



The Fringes of Reason
The Fringes of Reason : A Whole Earth Catalog. By Ted Schultz. New York: Harmony Books, 1989. A miscellany of commentaries on fringe pursuits -- "New Age Frontiers, Unusual Beliefs & Eccentric Sciences." I wrote "Spontaneous Human Combustion: An Explanation?"




Science Confronts the Paranormal
Science Confronts the Paranormal. Edited by Kendrick Frazier. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1986. Collection of articles (from Skeptical Inquirer), mine being "The Nasca Drawings Revisited: Creation of a Full-sized Duplicate."




Papers from a Conference on Thai Studies
Papers from a Conference on Thai Studies in Honor of William J. Gedney. Edited by Robert J. Bickner, Thomas J. Hudak, and Patcharin Peyasantiwong. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michagan, 1986. For an article on the origins of the epic poem Thao Hung or Cheuang by James R. Chamberlin, I was commissioned to produce a series of six historic maps of Vietnam and surroundings, pp. 79-84.



Kentucky Renaissance
Kentucky Renaissance. Edited by Johnathan Greene. Lexington : Gnomon, 1976. In this anthology I have three poems -- interestingly enough, following a prose piece by Thomas Merton. (Also included are Wendell Berry, Gurney Norman, Richard Taylor, and many others.)




New Refugees
New Refugees; American Voices in Canada. Edited by Jim Christy. Toronto: Peter Martin Associates, 1972. In what is generally a collection of essays by 18 American anti-Vietnam War immigrants to Canada, my contribution is in the form of an interview -- in retrospect, surprisingly edgy.




Et al.
Et al. Inter-Collegiate Poetry Congress. Edited by Henry Allen Paper and Walter O. Kaelber. Lewisburg, Pa.: Poetry Congress Press, 1965. As one of four student poets from the University of Kentucky, I have three early poems in this collection of poems from U.S. colleges and universities.