Ghostbuster Mary Ann Makes a 'Spirited' Appearance Here

It took a few minutes for someone to ask local ghostbusterMary Ann Winkowski, speaking at the Wednesday night, the obvious question: 

Are there any ghosts in the room right now?

Mary Ann laughed.

"This is a public place. Yes, you are going to have earthbound spirits in here," she said.

A crowd of more than 200 flocked to the library to see the well-known paranormal investigator, who says she can see and talk to dead people and inspired the CBS TV show Ghost Whisperer, which starred Jennifer Love Hewitt.

She kept the audience laughing and nodding with stories of her ghostly encounters, like one about a woman who had a ghost "attached" to her. She was distraught when Mary Ann told her it was her mother.

That's impossible, the woman said -- her mother was still alive.

Three days later, she called Mary Ann and said she'd visited her mother and related the story. Now she was even more upset.

"She told me, 'I'm 42 years old and I just found out I'm adopted,'" Mary Ann said.

The author of several books, including When Ghosts Speak and novels The Book of Illumination and The Ice Cradle, Mary Ann says she can see earthbound spirits -- people who have died and not "crossed over" to the other side.

They hang around because they have unfinished business here. Her job is to find out why they're still here and direct them to the "white light" that will take them to the afterlife.

Some highlights of her talk:

• No. 1 question at funerals: What's the computer password? Mary Ann, who attends about 30 funerals a month, said the deceased always stays for his or her own service, typically standing at the foot of the casket. She's often called on by family members to get information from them.

• Animals can be ghosts: "My Bichon still hasn't crossed over. It's been 20 years. He still knocks the pillows off the couch."

• Most famous ghost she's met: Barbara Stanwyck. It was on the set of Ghost Whisperer. Mary Ann couldn't remember her name and cried out, "Oh, it's Victoria Barkley (Stanwyck's role on the TV show Big Valley)." She said she did get Stanwyck to cross over.

• Ghosts are a problem whether they prank you or not. Earthbound spirits thrive on human energy, so they take yours, leaving you feeling tired and often plagued by ailments -- respiratory problems in kids and sinus and intestinal issues in adults.

• She's not psychic. She can't see or talk to spirits that have crossed over, even when they come back to visit -- which they do, she said. While earthbound spirits can't read your mind, they can read hers, which is why she can communicate with them without speaking aloud. And she is able to see a ghost in your house if she's talking to you over the phone, although she can't communicate with the spirit without being there in person.

• Ghost Whisperer wasn't exactly her life. "About four sentences every week were true. The rest was Hollywood-ized," she said. 

She once had an argument with show creator James Gray over it, and he informed her the show was entertainment, not a ghost documentary. 

"He said, 'if you want to get the truth out there, write a book,'" Mary Ann recalled.

So she did. When Ghosts Speak is her first-person account of her gift and stories of her spirit encounters.

She has followed that up with novels featuring a ghostbuster. Her next book, Beyond Delicious, The Ghost Whisperer's Cookbook, is due out Sept. 13.

Her appearance was part of the Friends of the Strongsville Library's annual meeting. Group president said the event was successful -- a number of people joined the organization Wednesday so they could see Mary Ann's presentation.