I first met Stan about 40 years ago when was serving as the Research Director for the dream telepathy studies that were being carried out at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn. Montague Ullman, a psychiatrist, and he carried out their large scale systematic study there for about 10 years. They wrote a book entitled Dream Telepathy and also published a large number of research articles in scientific journals describing their procedures and results that supported a telepathy hypothesis.
Because of my successful results previously as a telepathic dreamer at the Institute of Dream Research in Miami with Calvin Hall, arrangements had been made for me to periodically participate as a subject in their project. It took me 44 weeks to complete eight nights of study there. Stan had what seemed to be a rather constantly changing cast of research assistants who would attach electrodes to my head to prepare me for my nightly dreaming sessions. After every REM period, Stan would awaken me to ask me what type of dreaming experiences I had just been having. He did this this five to seven times per night. He would then interview me the following morning to inquire about how many of the preceding dreams I could still recall and would present me with a group of eight colored pictures. My task was to select which one I thought had been the target picture that the “sender” had been concentrating upon in a distant part of the hospital. I always felt that Stan was carrying out his responsibilities in a very careful and comprehensive fashion, but did so in a very warm and supportive style during all of our laboratory interactions.
The friendship that I developed with Stan continues to grow over the many subsequent years. I have always been amazed at his encyclopedic recall for the content of research studies, the names of the researchers and to provide riveting anecdotes about the interesting variety of people whom he has interacted with during his wide ranging travels. If I wish to obtain the latest information about any current studies or about the history of past studies, the person to whom I would turn is Stan. He is like a human Google database for all sorts of mainstream science as well as arcane knowledge.
If I were ever to be introduced for speaking at a panel or symposium, I was always delighted when I learned that Stan would be the person introducing me. He has always been so gracious in the ways that he described who I am that he made me feel far more important than I feel I am. Many young aspiring researchers are mentored by Stan and he makes a wonderful role model for them.
It almost seems that Stan must occupy some peculiar bubble of time warp, because during any 24 hour period, he is accomplishing about 48 hours of traveling, interviewing, supervising students, writing, editing, researching, presenting at conferences etc. etc. Stan is internationally recognized as an authority on dreams, parapsychology and altered states of consciousness. His extraordinary range of knowledge has been obtained by engaging in continual self exploration, carrying out creative research and conducting extensive field work with indigenous people in far-flung locations. He has probably accumulated more bonus flying miles than that of all the DNJ readership combined! His numerous accomplishments have made him a living myth in the “Wise Old Man” tradition.
Many follow behind him as he confidently carries the lantern high and leads us ahead on our journeys.
