Family of con artist reveals 35-year hoax, reaches out to victims
Contact: Barbara J Guardino, 503-646-1817
PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 27, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Who would pay $10,000 for psychic advice from a man sitting in a mental hospital awaiting trial for credit card fraud? Why, the rich and famous, of course!
"That's exactly what happened when my son David was in his heyday, billing himself as The World's Greatest Psychic," says David's mother Harriet Smith Guardino, co-author of the biography "My Son, My Son, Redemption of a Psychic."
"It appears that people will believe in just about anything, as long as it's not God," agrees her daughter and co-author, Barbara Guardino.
David rose to prominence in the world of the occult in the 1980s. His signature claim to fame is the well documented séances that he held in Graceland Mansion, when he supposedly contacted the deceased King of Rock-n-Roll, Elvis Presley.
For more than three decades, he hoodwinked celebrities, businesspeople and politicians into believing he could make others do their bidding. He was a business consultant with no apparent business sense. He freely gave out advice on building successful relationships, yet he married nine times.
He claimed that his psychic powers were a gift from God, although he described himself as an atheistic existentialist and hedonist.
David's flamboyant Las Vegas lifestyle deeply embarrassed his parents and siblings. But his mother refused to give up on her eldest son. She fought an intense spiritual battle on David's behalf, which finally resulted in his salvation just before he died on May 10, 2007.
GuardinosWrite was created in 2008 to market publishable manuscripts written over the last 50 years by members of the Guardino family.
Nearly all are writers, beginning with father, Monte Guardino, who created 10 full-act stage plays; and mother, Harriet, whose memoirs Dear John, With Love, were published by the Josephine County Historical Society in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Brother John has written more than 100 children's stories. Sister Barbara is a former print journalist who has written a number of full-length books for adults and teens.
For more information about My Son, My Son, Redemption of a Psychic or to coordinate an interview about the biblical view of the occult, please contact Barbara Guardino at barbg@involved.com.
To preview My Son, My Son and other available manuscripts, go to www.GuardinosWrite.com/redemption.html.