Grand Rapids Advance
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Former GR resident writes book from
ghost's perspective
by: Becky Phillips
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A former Grand Rapids resident has written a book from a unique perspective.
Linda Alice Dewey, of Glen Arbor in Leelanau County, wrote "Aaron's Crossing: A True Ghost Story." The book is told from the perspective of Aaron Burke, a ghost, who dictates his story to Dewey several years after she had an encounter with him and helped him cross over.
"He observes himself, his reactions, and responses and how he came to be a person who had unresolved issues and became a ghost," Dewey said. "He understands now why things happened and sees why it was all so perfect. The wisdom and insight he has are universal today. His biggest lesson is learning to trust other people."
"It's told by someone who has crossed over and observes his life and his after life," Dewey said. "His message is -- in the chaos of life, just know that everything will make sense and that the story doesn't end at death. The story continues and that's what he came to tell us."
Dewey will be signing her book from 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 17 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 3670 28th St. in Kentwood.
"It begins and ends with my own personal experience encountering a ghost," Dewey said. "I, at first, doubted and thought I had an over active imagination. I grew up thinking there were no such thing as ghosts, but we don't know for sure until something physical happens."
The events that lead to the book began about 15 years ago.
In 1991 Dewey was vacationing at her family's cottage in Glen Arbor and visited a nearby cemetery in the woods with some other people.
"We felt something very heavy in that area and when we walked away we didn't feel it anymore," Dewey said.
In 1995 she returned to the cemetery and she called out to the ghost. Nothing happened and she returned to the cottage. Later on, she said she felt bumps at the end of her bed during the night. She said everyone but her was asleep and there were no pets that could bump into her bed. The second time she felt these bumps, she sat up in bed and then laid awake all night wondering what she would do if it happened again.
"If it did, I would know for sure it wasn't my imagination and I'd take him with me back to Arizona to find someone to help him," She said.
The next day, tired from a lack of sleep, she laid down to try and take a nap. Right after she laid down, before she even closed her eyes, she felt pressure on the mattress and saw the imprint of the ghost's hand pushing down on it hard and then let it up. She began a dialogue with Aaron. Then she took him back to Arizona with her and helped him cross over.
"Most people are afraid, but I felt sorry for this person that was stuck and I wanted him to know someone cared," Dewey said. "Ghosts are people like us who are looking for answers and a lot of them are frustrated. The best thing I realized when he moved that mattress was that there are ghosts and there is life after death."
Five years later Aaron returned to her and began telling her his story. By that time she had moved back to Michigan to live in her family's cottage.
For three months, Dewey said, she wrote Aaron's story as he dictated it to her. She said she worked on the book for a couple of hours each morning.
"Aaron's Crossing: was published by Northern Spirit Creative Productions, LLC, a small publishing company in Glen Arbor. The book was released locally in the Glen Arbor area, June 15 and nationally on Sept. 1. To date, 2,500 copies of the book have been sold.
"It's so gratifying to see this happen," Dewey said. "It's growing in momentum so much it's almost overwhelming because the opportunities are so limitless. I have to force myself to take a day off."
Dewey promotes the message of the book at different book talks throughout Michigan. The book talks, she said, give her the opportunity to share the message that "life is not as limited as it appears to be,"
"Death is not the end of the story," she said. "There's so much more around us we don't see and if ghosts are out there, there is so much we don't know about everything."
She hopes to expand the talks to other states and is working on turning the book into a musical. She said she has been writing music for it for the past 30 years and now understands that the music was written for the book.
Dewey has studied metaphysics since 1987 and facilitates spiritual workshops. She spent nearly 20 years teaching reading and music.
Aaron's Crossing is available at bookstores throughout Michigan or online at Amazon.com. For more information visit lindaalicedewey.com.
