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Local author investigates the afterlife

SCOTTSDALE — His son died at age 18. His father was a famous psychic medium and minister from the 1960s to the 1980s.

These two things led Mark Ireland to begin writing his first book, Soul Shift, a story of Ireland’s loss and his journey to find where the dead go after life on earth.

Ireland’s father, Richard Ireland, was most known for counseling celebrities, including Mae West, Glenn Ford and Amanda Blake. He once received a letter from Mamie Eisenhower, on behalf of Dwight Eisenhower, congratulating him on getting married.

“His connections were even beyond what he could talk about,” Mark Ireland says.

While Ireland didn’t grow up in a time when TV shows like Medium and Ghost Whisperer existed, he says it seemed normal to have a father who always knew what was going on.

Despite his father’s success as a psychic medium, Ireland says he never aspired to follow in his father’s footsteps.

“I was always comforted thinking that there could be more, but I never strived to be like
my dad,” Ireland says.

He went on to study at Arizona State University in Tempe, where he later began working in business. But, his life changed after his son, Brandon Ireland, died on Jan. 10, 2004, from a severe asthma attack while hiking with friends in Scottsdale’s McDowell Mountains.

Ireland said before his son left for the hike, he had very strong feelings that something bad was going to happen and urged his son not to go.

“I would worry about him at times, but this just seemed more stronger and urgent,”
Ireland says.

Ireland says he contacted his uncle after his son’s death because he had psychic abilities. Mark Ireland wanted to know if he knew any details surrounding his son’s death. A few days later, Ireland said his uncle called back and revealed to him the cause of death before the autopsy report was revealed.

This and a few other strange occurrences led Ireland to start writing Soul Shift (224 pages, Frog Books, $16.95). Ireland said he initially planned on writing a biography of his father, but it quickly turned into a story about his own life.

“I needed to work on something constructive just to maintain my sanity at that point,”
Ireland says.

He had a series of four meetings with top mediums, including Allison DuBois, the subject of the NBC’s TV show Medium. Ireland said he tried to control each situation to the best of his ability to test DuBois’ psychic powers.

“I am coming in almost as a journalist reporting on the work of people like Allison
DuBois from my perspective in a controlled situation,” Ireland says. He also participated in a single blind test at the University of Arizona with psychic Laurie Campbell.

Ireland says Campbell was able to give “amazing detail” about his life and the event’s surrounding his son’s death.

Still, Ireland said he does not plan on quitting his day job any time soon. His book has sold 2,500 copies, but he continues to work full-time as an advertising executive at Valassis, a print advertising company.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.

Local gumshoes pen tell-all book about finding lost loved ones

TEMPE — Most people never experience what it is like not knowing who their real birth parents are.

The book, Back to the Beginning ($18.95, Perfect Paperback), gives readers an opportunity to do just that.  Co-written by Ava Friddle, Judy Andrews and Kristen Hamilton and Joe Bardin, the book is a snapshot of stories about adoption searches and reunions that the authors have experienced throughout their careers as private investigators.

Hamilton, along with her mother, Friddle, and sister, Andrews, formed a family-owned business called Research, Etc., Inc., in 1995 in Scottsdale. While the business specializes in adoption searches, they also conduct investigations involving all aspects of information research.

Hamilton states that it was after their first experiences in the business that the family realized that this was “something we really loved.”

Shortly after opening their agency, Hamilton and Andrews became certified as Confidential Intermediaries and were trained how to handle reunions between adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents.

Hamilton’s goal in writing this book was to show people the ins and outs of adoption searches and reunions.

But “every case is different, and no two people are the same,” Hamilton says.

The first chapter discusses their background as well as a brief introduction on how they typically handle adoption searches.  The authors write:

“It is our opinion, an opinion that we’ve formed through the years of experience acting as intermediaries, that contact, regardless of who makes it, should be approached discreetly, respectfully and considerately.”

Hamilton explains how emotional these situations can be for people, and the need for it to be handled slowly and carefully so that both parties have plenty of time to feel safe.

The following chapters in the book are separated by the different stories about individual searches.

Hamilton and her co-authors will be showcasing their book this Friday at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe.  The event will begin at 7 p.m. for a book signing and excerpt reading.

Todd Denen, a past client of Research, Etc., Inc., will also be attending the event with his birth mother.  He and his mother are one of the stories that are written in the book.  Hamilton wanted Denen to attend the event so that readers would be able to attach a real face to the stories.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.