Author visiting Everett claims to know the end

Published 9:59 pm Friday, July 27, 2007

EVERETT – Not many people could expect to be taken seriously when saying they’ve died, gone to heaven, met angels and Jesus and came back to tell about it.

Betty J. Eadie has, and the author has sold millions of books and cultivated loyal readers along the way.

Eadie, whose first book was the 1992 surprise best-seller “Embraced by the Light” and who wrote three subsequent books, is scheduled to speak about her near-death experience in Everett this afternoon.

She is charging $25 for admission to the lecture.

She holds an annual retreat each year, usually in larger cities such as Chicago, Boston and New York.

This year, she held it closer to her Woodinville home at the urging of her son, Tom Eadie, who is her agent and who lives in Granite Falls.

For nearly 20 years, Eadie, 65, only told friends and family about her out-of-body experience.

Eadie’s fantastic claims have spurred people to call her everything from a divine messenger to a huckster. She jokes that some Christians accuse her of being a muddled New Age cultist, while some free spirits say she’s a dogmatic Christian.

She says her world view is shaped in part by respect that her American Indian ancestors – she wears a long white tribal dress during her lectures – had for all living things.

The story that brought her so much notoriety began in a Seattle hospital room in November 1973.

Eadie says she died after hemorrhaging after undergoing a hysterectomy.

The then-31-year-old mother of seven children had much to live for. Her husband, Joe, had a well-paying job at the Boeing plant in Renton and their home was filled with laughter, joy and love.

Yet, she writes in her book that she did not want to return after leaving her body and meeting Jesus Christ.

Her independently published “Embraced by the Light” created a buzz with small booksellers, drawing sizable crowds at book signings. It wasn’t until she appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show that the book catapulted to the No. 1 position on the New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction books.

“After the Oprah show, it was just unbelievable,” Tom Eadie said. “The book was just everywhere.”

He said he knew the book was a hit when he saw it on a store bookshelf while on a trip to Taiwan.

While his mother has slowed her hectic speaking schedule in the 15 years since her first book’s release, he said her message continues to generate interest.

Today’s talk and a question-and-answer session is expected to last a few hours. It is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the PUD Auditorium, 2030 California St., Everett.

Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.