About the author
Janis Heaphy Durham is the former publisher and president of the Sacramento Bee, one of California's largest newspapers. After her husband, Max Besler, died of esophageal cancer in 2004, she began experiencing a series of unexplained occurrences at home, from flickering lights to a phenomenon involving a fogged bathroom mirror that appeared to bear a handprint. She recounts this experience, and her subsequent inquiry into evidence for consciousness surviving death, in The Hand on the Mirror: A True Story of Life Beyond Death (Grand Central Publishing, 2015; also published in the UK by Yellow Kite the same year). The book combines personal memoir with interviews and photographic documentation, written from the perspective of a career journalist trained toward skepticism rather than a lifelong believer. It is aimed at readers curious about near-death and after-death communication accounts told from an unusually credentialed narrator.
📖 Where to start with Janis Heaphy Durham
💬 What our editors say about Janis Heaphy Durham's books
“Heaphy Durham presents a heartfelt account that may resonate deeply with skeptics turned believers or those actively seeking proof of an afterlife. The narrative effectively combines personal vulnerability with investigative…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on The Hand on the Mirror: A True Story of Life Beyond Death
“Durham’s memoir provides a poignant, first-person account of grief transformed by inexplicable events. While it offers genuine emotional resonance for believers in spiritualism, it may frustrate skeptical readers or those seeking…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on The Hand on the Mirror: Life Beyond Death
