I have been fascinated by the story ever since I was a youngster and saw photos of the wall and envelope writings. The context they were presented in (in a book debunking ghosts) was that the writings were entirely false, but something about the desperate pleas to "Marianne," touched a powerful chord in my imagination. Ironically, I was given that book -- the title of which I have never been able to remember -- by my mother when at age nine I conceived a sudden and enormous terror of ghosts. She wanted to convince me there was no such thing.
Borley still held my imagination into adulthood, along with other mysteries. However, after years of reading more about the case, it did seem as though chicanery was involved (with no offense intended, I have never been convinced by the "floating brick" photo, and in most of the purported ghost photos of Borley I see only mist or slight photographic overexposure rather than any manifestations.) I had more or less settled the question of Borley Rectory in my mind when about [1999] I came across your [web] site.
I was immediately fascinated all over again. Your story is so strange, so touching... the idea that you never knew about this bizarre episode in your mother's past until adulthood, the insights you are able to offer into your mother's complex and intriguing character, as well as the breadth and scope of your research are all unique.
. . . . "The Ghosts That Will Not Die" . . . . convinced me . . . . that this is a story with no simple explanation. Unlike most mysteries, the Borley Rectory saga is one which contains clear instances of fakery, but also events such as the intractably strange happenings centered around your mother. The personalities involved are fascinating, to say the least -- Edwin Whitehouse, Harry Bull, Lionel Foyster, Harry Price, Marianne O'Neil - - none of these people are simple or easily understood, and neither is the question of what really happened at Borley Rectory. And unlike most people who are deeply involved in a mystery (even those with much less of a personal connection than you have) your writings on the Borley matter are clear and even-handed, without stridency or one-sidedness. You invite the reader to think about the evidence you present, rather than fixing on a single theory.
I am very much looking forward to reading "The Ghosts That Will Not Die" in its entirety, as well as all of the other research and materials you've assembled. The whole truth of Borley Rectory will probably never be known, but you have certainly enlarged and deepened the knowledge we do have. . . .
I look forward to a long and interesting association.