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GHRS Director Matthew James Didier
Okay, this desperately needed re-writing so you're humble "director/webmaster" has taken it upon himself to do a little egotistical writing...
Although born in 1967, I have only been studying ghosts and hauntings with a leaning towards the historic and slightly scientific since 1985 (contrary to popular belief). I became interested in the subject due to some incidents in a former home that peaked my curiosity. Up until that time, my parents should have been more worried about their son becoming a UFOlogist rather than a ghost researcher but once I had experienced 'something', I was hooked to looking into ghosts and the study of them and the phenomena forever.
The more I read, the more I wanted to know and the more I went out searching not only for possible answers to my many questions but about the history and thought process behind not just each 'ghost' but each ghost story.
To avoid issues, I DO believe in ghostly activity but I remain undecided about much that is considered 'ghostly'. I currently regard myself as a true sceptic and really am someone who needs more 'proof' or evidence before I believe OR disbelieve anything.
My educational background is admittedly AWFUL and if someone needs to poke fun at it, go right ahead as I have never hidden the fact that despite the "many rumours to the contrary", my scholastic career was a complete and total disaster.
None the less, I have managed to scrape myself up from the illiterate 'ooze' I seemed so destined to be mired in and am now a working computer network technician as a 'full-time-pays-the-bills' job (now, as for this fact, I do have multiple certificates, diplomas and awards! So, I'm a techie with some credibility...) and a part time, admittedly amateur 'researcher'... but I still seem to be taken fairly seriously by most. (Let's just say, I truly DO try to do my homework!)
In that vein, I also am fond of pointing out that indeed, no accredited, non-profit post secondary educational facility (read: college or university) in Ontario currently offers Parapsychology or it's more 'sceptical' (sceptdebunker) name, Pseudo-Science, as a major so therefore, I would NEVER qualify myself as a "Parapsychologist" or "Expert". I see myself as a well read and experienced researcher at best. One day, my hope is that I might get tapped to help establish a "Parapsychology Course" for a non-profit, accredited, post-secondary educational facility but until then...
In all honesty, I started the GHRS (Ghosts and Hauntings Research Society) in 1997 with the idea that maybe a couple of hundred people would visit the site (around Halloween) and look for reports and stories... much like I tried to do back then with no success. (In 1997, when I searched the dreaded 'net for ghosts in Canada, I found four sites... Three in the U.S. and one, selling books, in Canada.)
Within a year, the GHRS had expanded on the concepts of trying to tell the STORY first and PROOF second (and both with research) to Utah and over 50,000 people stopped by for a read. Now (2003), we're at over half a million visitor and boast active GHRSs in Ontario, BC and Quebec in Canada, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, California and Western New York in the USA. (Links to said sites are available by clicking here.)
I honestly really didn't figure on the site getting anywhere NEAR this big!
I am both well hated and well liked in paranormal circles... The sceptics (or "sceptdebunkers" as they tend NOT to be as much "sceptical" as out to debunk regardless of the evidence) hate me because I [shudder] actually believe in paranormal phenomena and the true believers hate me because I [shudder] dare to question long held psychical and 'ghostly' beliefs and certain types of phenomena.
I think those that like me see me as comic relief... and (hopefully) a bit of common sense. That, and I always thrust my LOVE of history out to anyone who'll let me and that does seem to be a bit contagious.
Although, yes, I have done some media, it is NOT something I'm particularly fond of nor something I actively pursue. My experiences have been less than enchanting with the folks more interested in "scary-BOO!" researcher than the real and, I'm afraid, rather mundane truth. (More information on THIS can be had by clicking here.) Long and the short of it is, YES, I've done a lot of media. NO, I will not be posting my media credits. (Granted, I'm happy with my monthly radio gig on Mind/Shift and I was unbelievably pleased to see my name and work appear in things such as The Encyclopedia Britannica and The University of Toronto Historical Revue... amongst others...)
Heck, I even have written an open letter to the media... because I'm just ever so fond of it! (It's printable, too!)
Currently, I live in the West End (in the oft mentioned "palatial Didier/Darroch Compound") Toronto, Ontario, Canada and continue to do a little bit of as much as I can in the field of paranormal research with an obviously 'ghostly' slant. I will continue to ask "Why?" and continue to look into the legends, myths, folklore and first hand accounts of hauntings in the province I live in as well as wherever I can get a word in edgewise.
If I was to clear up one idea that people seem to not get a grasp on it's that YES, seriously, I am NOT out to make $dough$! This "hobby" sets me back a pretty penny and it is all done as a true labour of love. I am, in one person's words, a little "altruistic".
I believe that this study (ghosts and hauntings) is MORE than simply a good scare or a weird photo or two, it's a CHANCE to get people interested in the history and folklore that surrounds them while ALSO showcasing misconceptions... not only the misconception that 'ghosts' and 'hauntings' are the realm of whackos and true believers and not the sane (which is ABSOLUTE bunk! Many sane, normal, rational people have experienced some sort of what can be termed paranormal phenomena) but the misconceptions that some have about the phenomena itself... be it real or perceived.
Therefore, I truly believe that the information SHOULD be free and NO ONE should tell you that because of your beliefs, age or WHATEVER that you should NOT be looking into things and learning as much as you can about ANYTHING in the process. QUESTION EVERYTHING! (I hear some smart @$$ reading that last line saying "Why?")
If I'm guilty of pontification above... well Thppt!
Who am I? HONESTLY, that's unimportant. What do I hope to accomplish? Well, if ONE person feels they are not alone in experiencing ghostly phenomena and/or one person visits a historic site for the ghost story but comes away with a love of history and/or one person hits the library to answer the question "Why?"... then I've done my intended job!
"For now, when it comes to most ideas about ghosts, I'll stay here, firmly, snuggly but, far from safely in the middle."
- Matthew Didier, from the TGHRS message board (2003)
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©1997-2005 - GHRS - Ontario 100632991
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