In Memoriam Gordon Stein (1941-1996)

Gordon S. Stein, 55, an author and editor on secular humanist and paranormal subjects who was internationally known among freethinkers, died of cancer on August 27, 1996, in Buffalo General Hospital. Stein, a member of the Center for Inquiry in Amherst for the last four years, was the senior editor of Free Inquiry, a bimonthly magazine with a circulation of 20,000. Dr. Stein was also the editor of The American Rationalist since 1978; the Nov./Dec. 1996 issue is dedicated to his memory. He also was the director of the two libraries at the Center for Inquiry, one that deals with secular humanism and the other with paranormal experiences. He was the editor of The Encyclopedia of Hoaxes,The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal, and The Encyclopedia of Unbelief. He was the author of The Sorcerer of Kings, a book about D.D. Home, a 19th century spiritualist medium who duped wealthy people; a book about Robert G. Ingersoll, the 19th century American agnostic; and the Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism.

Joseph Nickel, a Center for Inquiry colleague, described Stein as a bibliophile with his own collection of rare books on spiritualism, which he debunked, and secular humanism. "He lectured widely, enjoyed debate and did not suffer fools," Nickel said. Stein held degrees in library science and management from the University of Rochester, Adelphi College and the University of California at Los Angeles, and a doctorate in physiology from Ohio State University. For a time, he taught at the University of Rhode Island. Stein had been a consultant to the Committee of Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Surviving are his first wife, Barbara, and daughter, Karen, both of Atlanta; a second wife Eve Triffo of Los Angeles; and a sister, Irna S. Jay of Baltimore. (From The Buffalo News)

"We should always keep an open mind about any new phenomenon in nature. To merely say 'that's impossible, therefore it doesn't exist,' is to commit a serious error. A much better approach would be to say 'That's quite unlikely, but show me the evidence you have that says that it may be so.' It would be the height of arrogance to think that man knows everything possible about the universe or the earth. There are many things yet to be discovered, and that is why we have scientific research (or any kind of research). That should be the rationalist's approach to parapsychology and the occult."

Gordon Stein in What is Rationalism?, 1985