Allen Spraggett

{{Short description|Canadian writer and broadcaster (1932–2022)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=June 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Allen Spraggett | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Allen Frederick Spraggett | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1932|03|26}} | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2022|07|19|1932|03|26}} | death_place = Newmarket, Ontario, Canada | other_names = | occupation = Broadcaster, writer | years_active = | known_for = Paranormal topics | notable_works = }} '''Allen Frederick Spraggett''' (26 March 1932 – 19 July 2022) was a Canadian writer and broadcaster, known for his works concerning the paranormal.

==Biography==

During the 1950s, Spraggett was a minister of the Open Door Evangelical Church. He transferred to the United Church of Canada to become a minister there, then worked as the religion editor of ''Toronto Star''.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vB4uAAAAIBAJ&pg=2715%2C1629367 | title=Strange Things Will Happen | first=Wessely | last=Hicks | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Montreal | page=TV Times 8 | date=June 1977 | accessdate=18 June 2015 }}</ref> In the 1970s, he wrote ''The Unexplained'', a syndicated newspaper column concerning the paranormal.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EB4rAAAAIBAJ&pg=4540%2C3114260 | title=A lot of people think Kreskin's some kind of mind reader | first=Lawrence | last=Martin | work=Canadian Magazine | date=15 July 1972 | page=10 | accessdate=18 June 2015 }}</ref>

In 1975, Spraggett hosted a Canadian television show called ''E.S.P.'' <ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MRQyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2qEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5133%2C2660776 The Montreal Gazette - Jan 10, 1975]</ref> In 1976, M. Lamar Keene co-authored a self-expose of fraudulent mediumship, ''The Psychic Mafia'' "as told to" Allen Spraggett.<ref>{{OCLC|2212880}}</ref>

Spraggett was host of the CBC television quiz show ''Beyond Reason'' from 1977 to 1980. He also hosted the radio shows ''Sun Spots'' and ''The Unexplained'' on CFRB in Toronto.<ref name=Dunlop>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KnwxAAAAIBAJ&pg=1053%2C1482472 | title=Tangle with law shakes broadcaster's faith in system | first=Marilyn | last=Dunlop | date=15 May 1980 | page=26 | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Montreal | accessdate=18 June 2015 }} Article originated from the ''Toronto Star''.</ref>

In 1979, he was charged with two counts of gross indecency, based on allegations by youths from Winnipeg. Spraggett was acquitted of these charges in April 1980. However, he had difficulty in resuming his broadcasting and writing career after that trial.<ref name=Dunlop>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KnwxAAAAIBAJ&pg=1053%2C1482472 | title=Tangle with law shakes broadcaster's faith in system | first=Marilyn | last=Dunlop | date=15 May 1980 | page=26 | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Montreal | accessdate=18 June 2015 }} Article originated from the ''Toronto Star''.</ref>

During the early 1980s Spraggett provided the daily horoscope forecasts for the Pete and Geets morning drive show on CFNY FM in Toronto.

Spraggett was a believer in faith healing and wrote a biography of Kathryn Kuhlman. He described Kuhlman as the "greatest faith healer since Biblical times."<ref>Onofrio, Jan. (1999). ''Pennsylvania Biographical Dictionary''. Somerset Publishers. p. 667. {{ISBN|0-403-09950-1}}</ref>

He died in Newmarket, Ontario on 19 July 2022.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/thestar/name/allen-spraggett-obituary?id=39979006 | title=Allen Spraggett obituary | publisher=legacy.com | accessdate=18 April 2025}}</ref>

==Reception== {{empty section|date=August 2022}}

==Bibliography== * ''The Unexplained'' (1967) {{LCCN|67026236}} * ''The Bishop Pike Story'' (1970) {{OCLC|119820}} * ''Kathryn Kuhlman : The Woman who Believes in Miracles'' (1970) {{LCCN|71103843}} * ''Probing the Unexplained'' (1971) {{OCLC|208605}} * ''Arthur Ford, The Man Who Talked with the Dead'' (1973) {{LCCN|72009600}} * ''The Case for Immortality'' (1974) {{LCCN|73091365}} * ''The World of the Unexplained'' (1974) {{OCLC|4481248}} * ''The Spiritual Frontier'' (1975, co-writer with William Rauscher) {{ISBN|0385071892}} * ''New Worlds of the Unexplained'' (1976) {{OCLC|15765037}} * ''The Psychic Mafia'' (1976, co-writer with M. Lamar Keene) {{OCLC|2212880}} * ''Ross Peterson: The New Edgar Cayce'' (1977) {{ISBN|0385122985}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|1284480}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spraggett, Allen}} Category:1932 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Canadian columnists Category:Canadian occult writers Category:Canadian television hosts Category:Parapsychologists Category:Writers from Toronto