In the seaside town of Blackpool, noted for fresh air and fun, lived a remarkable lady that I knew as Mysterious Marguerite. I first met 'M' at The North Pier Theatre in the year 1993 when I was promoting a summer season psychic show. She struck me as being a very gentle and caring sort, a real Northern lass with lots of heart and a warm smile. At the time I did not know Marguerite as a medium, I thought she was just another interested customer wanting to know more about the psychic theatre shows I promoted. When I discovered that 'M' was indeed a spiritualist medium I named her Mysterious, for she was anything but.

As I spoke to 'M' my wife Mary came and joined us. Mysterious Marguerite turned to me and said 'You know you write a book, I see you in America and by your side is a huge penguin'. Well you can imagine that I thought this is indeed mysterious. As a joke I replied 'The only penguin I'm getting my dear is a chocolate biscuit'. But this silly response did not throw 'M' off her track, she insisted that the penguin was with me in the U.S.A.

That was five years ago this summer (1998). In May of  1998 I had three books published in America, two of which are distributed and promoted by Penguin Books Inc. Mysterious Marguerite has since passed to spirit, she was a gifted medium and I shall always remember her kindness. The last time we met she came to a bookstore in Blackpool where I was giving a talk to schoolchildren and signing some of my books, we enjoyed that day.

Predicting the future is often considered to be the domain of charlatans. Images of a dark haired Gypsy with a crystal ball spring to mind along with messages of tall handsome strangers that we are certain to meet. Personally I equate tall strangers with the police and who wants to meet them I ask you? Certainly not the incredible Derek Acorah whose clairvoyant powers once brought him to the brink of arrest.

Derek is a medium who works from an office in the city of Liverpool. Some few years ago a group of ladies walked into his ground floor unit and insisted that he help them find two missing children. Derek had never tried anything like it before but agreed to attempt to locate them using his psychic powers. The parent of one of the children handed Derek a piece of the missing little boy's clothing. It was his Liverpool Football Club replica shirt, the child's favourite. As Derek held this he began to receive visions of a dark green garage door next to a block of flats. He could also 'see' the name of a street 'Davenport' and the image of a tall thin man with long, lank hair who was not a native of Liverpool.

Derek gave this information to the group of ladies who immediately ran out of his office to the police station across the road. The police had been searching the area for twenty four hours trying to find the missing children and hadn't a clue where to look. So, armed with Derek's visions, they went to the police station. It was their last hope.

Back in his office Derek was quietly getting on with his work when in stamped a pair of size elevens under six foot plus of angry uniform. The Police Sergeant prodded Derek in the chest with his radio and issued the medium with a caution 'I could arrest you under the Witchcraft Act! Who do you think you are filling these ladies heads with rubbish? We know what we're doing so leave it to the professionals OR ELSE!'. Policemen sometimes talk like that, believe it or not, perhaps it comes from wearing big pointy hats.

Anyway, it transpired that the ladies had refused to be insulted by the six foot sergeant and went to see the C.I.D. Inspector in charge of the case. He listened to what they had to say, noted Derek Acorah's information and set out to find the garage on Davenport Street. It turned out that there was no Davenport Street but a Davenport Road. On this road was a group of garages one with a dark green door, when they opened that door inside they found the two missing children. Further to this the C.I.D. staked out the site and arrested a tall thin man with long straggly hair who was returning to abuse those poor youngsters. But for the amazing Derek Acorah they might well have never been seen again.

Some days later the C.I.D. Inspector came to visit Derek in his office and thanked him for his help. 'How you did that we just don't know. But thank you so much'. Since that time Derek has helped the police on numerous occasions, but he's very wary of ones wearing large elevated helmets that think they are modern day witch finder generals.

There are charlatans around who pretend to predict the future and 'see' visions of events that are to come. As the feature editor of this paper I would be the first to admit that the field of Psychic Studies and mediumship is riddled with frauds. All I would say to any reader considering seeking a private consultation is this; keep an open mind and NEVER accept anything you are given without proof. If there is anything major ahead then, experience tells me, the psychic will pick up on this. That is proof enough, especially when that information is beyond their possible knowledge. I have first hand knowledge of accurate predictions given to me and indeed have given countless such to clients myself. If you are considering asking a clairvoyant for an insight into your future then I can honestly recommend  Gary Dakin of Manchester (0161 788 7376) and Maria Woods of Southport. She can be contacted at Predictions Tel. 01704 226398. You can also refer to the list of professional psychics featured within this site.