(Here is part of an article that I wrote for the Pikes Peak Senior News in 2019 about Mr. Morris Charles "Morey" Bernstein and his Bridey Murphy book).
Many seniors in the Pueblo and Colorado Springs areas still remember a bestselling book published in 1956 called "The Search for Bridey Murphy." A Pueblo, Colorado businessman and amateur hypnotist, Morey Bernstein, worked with housewife Virginia Tighe. While under hypnosis, Tighe would supposedly remember her past life in 17th century Ireland as Ms. Bridey Murphy. She even spoke in an Irish brogue while describing her previous life in detail.
The book was a big success and had a long run on the New York Times bestseller list. It was reissued in 1965 and was eventually published in over 30 languages. The phenomena even brought a team of journalists from Time Magazine here to try to uncover the true identity of "Bridey." The book also brought a renewed interest in hypnotism and the paranormal.
According to Tighe's obituary in the New York Times, the interest began when her hypnotism story was first written by William J. Barker in The Denver Post in 1954. It got a far wider audience when "The Search for Bridey Murphy" was published in 1956 and made into a movie the same year. A record album taken from Bernstein's interviews also encouraged public debate over reincarnation and the afterlife.
Skeptics disputed the book's findings. Efforts to debunk the Bridey Murphy narrative mainly focused on the idea that Tighe's detailed recollections of an Irish life a century earlier were simply a recollection of forgotten childhood stories and memories. The public was generally split on whether to believe Bernstein's findings.
One of the arguments that would support a skeptic's point of view is that Morey Bernstein spent much of his later years leading a solitary existence. Although he owned a large home on Elizabeth Street in Pueblo, he spent his last 25 years in a modest apartment (Abriendo Arms). A local book dealer, who lived here during that period, said that Bernstein even had groceries brought in so that he did not have to interact with the public. This could be interpreted as a sense of guilt or embarrassment about the facts behind the Bridey Murphy story.
Many locals never believed that the book was a complete hoax. Bernstein was a respected Pueblo businessman who had been experimenting with hypnosis for years. His hypnosis sessions with Tighe were done in front of local witnesses who vouched for the apparent authenticity of her regression.
Tighe did not seem to be in it for the publicity or the money. She insisted that her real name not be used in the book, using"Ruth Simmons" instead. She also declined almost every opportunity to cash in on the Bridey Murphy phenomenon.
Whether Tighe really had a past life as Bridey Murphy, or even if there was a Bridey Murphy has been the subject of intense debate for more than sixty years. Either way, it is one of those unusual events that seem to get discussed around Halloween.
==================================-
More about Morey Bernstein:
His achievements include patents for instant fence; patents for pronto panels; patents for Kwik-Lok portable corrals. Chairman Bernstein Brothers Parapsychology Foundation, Member of Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, American Society Psychical Research.
Bachelor of Science in Economics with distinction, University Pennsylvania, 1941. Postgraduate, Columbia University, 1953.
Partner Bernstein Brothers Equipment Company, Bernstein Brothers Investment Company, from 1941. President Bernstein Brothers Machinery Corporation, 1946—1952. Chairman board Double-B, Inc., Wholesalers, Inc., Pueblo, from 1970.
Be sure to check out the Bernstein Brothers Room at the Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St, Pueblo, CO (719) 542-1100. There are lots of photos of Morey and his family.
###
Many seniors in the Pueblo and Colorado Springs areas still remember a bestselling book published in 1956 called "The Search for Bridey Murphy." A Pueblo, Colorado businessman and amateur hypnotist, Morey Bernstein, worked with housewife Virginia Tighe. While under hypnosis, Tighe would supposedly remember her past life in 17th century Ireland as Ms. Bridey Murphy. She even spoke in an Irish brogue while describing her previous life in detail.
The book was a big success and had a long run on the New York Times bestseller list. It was reissued in 1965 and was eventually published in over 30 languages. The phenomena even brought a team of journalists from Time Magazine here to try to uncover the true identity of "Bridey." The book also brought a renewed interest in hypnotism and the paranormal.
According to Tighe's obituary in the New York Times, the interest began when her hypnotism story was first written by William J. Barker in The Denver Post in 1954. It got a far wider audience when "The Search for Bridey Murphy" was published in 1956 and made into a movie the same year. A record album taken from Bernstein's interviews also encouraged public debate over reincarnation and the afterlife.
Skeptics disputed the book's findings. Efforts to debunk the Bridey Murphy narrative mainly focused on the idea that Tighe's detailed recollections of an Irish life a century earlier were simply a recollection of forgotten childhood stories and memories. The public was generally split on whether to believe Bernstein's findings.
One of the arguments that would support a skeptic's point of view is that Morey Bernstein spent much of his later years leading a solitary existence. Although he owned a large home on Elizabeth Street in Pueblo, he spent his last 25 years in a modest apartment (Abriendo Arms). A local book dealer, who lived here during that period, said that Bernstein even had groceries brought in so that he did not have to interact with the public. This could be interpreted as a sense of guilt or embarrassment about the facts behind the Bridey Murphy story.
Many locals never believed that the book was a complete hoax. Bernstein was a respected Pueblo businessman who had been experimenting with hypnosis for years. His hypnosis sessions with Tighe were done in front of local witnesses who vouched for the apparent authenticity of her regression.
Tighe did not seem to be in it for the publicity or the money. She insisted that her real name not be used in the book, using"Ruth Simmons" instead. She also declined almost every opportunity to cash in on the Bridey Murphy phenomenon.
Whether Tighe really had a past life as Bridey Murphy, or even if there was a Bridey Murphy has been the subject of intense debate for more than sixty years. Either way, it is one of those unusual events that seem to get discussed around Halloween.
==================================-
More about Morey Bernstein:
His achievements include patents for instant fence; patents for pronto panels; patents for Kwik-Lok portable corrals. Chairman Bernstein Brothers Parapsychology Foundation, Member of Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, American Society Psychical Research.
Bachelor of Science in Economics with distinction, University Pennsylvania, 1941. Postgraduate, Columbia University, 1953.
Partner Bernstein Brothers Equipment Company, Bernstein Brothers Investment Company, from 1941. President Bernstein Brothers Machinery Corporation, 1946—1952. Chairman board Double-B, Inc., Wholesalers, Inc., Pueblo, from 1970.
Be sure to check out the Bernstein Brothers Room at the Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St, Pueblo, CO (719) 542-1100. There are lots of photos of Morey and his family.
###
(Here is part of an article that I wrote for the Pikes Peak Senior News in 2019 about Mr. Morris Charles "Morey" Bernstein and his Bridey Murphy book).
Many seniors in the Pueblo and Colorado Springs areas still remember a bestselling book published in 1956 called "The Search for Bridey Murphy." A Pueblo, Colorado businessman and amateur hypnotist, Morey Bernstein, worked with housewife Virginia Tighe. While under hypnosis, Tighe would supposedly remember her past life in 17th century Ireland as Ms. Bridey Murphy. She even spoke in an Irish brogue while describing her previous life in detail.
The book was a big success and had a long run on the New York Times bestseller list. It was reissued in 1965 and was eventually published in over 30 languages. The phenomena even brought a team of journalists from Time Magazine here to try to uncover the true identity of "Bridey." The book also brought a renewed interest in hypnotism and the paranormal.
According to Tighe's obituary in the New York Times, the interest began when her hypnotism story was first written by William J. Barker in The Denver Post in 1954. It got a far wider audience when "The Search for Bridey Murphy" was published in 1956 and made into a movie the same year. A record album taken from Bernstein's interviews also encouraged public debate over reincarnation and the afterlife.
Skeptics disputed the book's findings. Efforts to debunk the Bridey Murphy narrative mainly focused on the idea that Tighe's detailed recollections of an Irish life a century earlier were simply a recollection of forgotten childhood stories and memories. The public was generally split on whether to believe Bernstein's findings.
One of the arguments that would support a skeptic's point of view is that Morey Bernstein spent much of his later years leading a solitary existence. Although he owned a large home on Elizabeth Street in Pueblo, he spent his last 25 years in a modest apartment (Abriendo Arms). A local book dealer, who lived here during that period, said that Bernstein even had groceries brought in so that he did not have to interact with the public. This could be interpreted as a sense of guilt or embarrassment about the facts behind the Bridey Murphy story.
Many locals never believed that the book was a complete hoax. Bernstein was a respected Pueblo businessman who had been experimenting with hypnosis for years. His hypnosis sessions with Tighe were done in front of local witnesses who vouched for the apparent authenticity of her regression.
Tighe did not seem to be in it for the publicity or the money. She insisted that her real name not be used in the book, using"Ruth Simmons" instead. She also declined almost every opportunity to cash in on the Bridey Murphy phenomenon.
Whether Tighe really had a past life as Bridey Murphy, or even if there was a Bridey Murphy has been the subject of intense debate for more than sixty years. Either way, it is one of those unusual events that seem to get discussed around Halloween.
==================================-
More about Morey Bernstein:
His achievements include patents for instant fence; patents for pronto panels; patents for Kwik-Lok portable corrals. Chairman Bernstein Brothers Parapsychology Foundation, Member of Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, American Society Psychical Research.
Bachelor of Science in Economics with distinction, University Pennsylvania, 1941. Postgraduate, Columbia University, 1953.
Partner Bernstein Brothers Equipment Company, Bernstein Brothers Investment Company, from 1941. President Bernstein Brothers Machinery Corporation, 1946—1952. Chairman board Double-B, Inc., Wholesalers, Inc., Pueblo, from 1970.
Be sure to check out the Bernstein Brothers Room at the Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St, Pueblo, CO (719) 542-1100. There are lots of photos of Morey and his family.
###
Many seniors in the Pueblo and Colorado Springs areas still remember a bestselling book published in 1956 called "The Search for Bridey Murphy." A Pueblo, Colorado businessman and amateur hypnotist, Morey Bernstein, worked with housewife Virginia Tighe. While under hypnosis, Tighe would supposedly remember her past life in 17th century Ireland as Ms. Bridey Murphy. She even spoke in an Irish brogue while describing her previous life in detail.
The book was a big success and had a long run on the New York Times bestseller list. It was reissued in 1965 and was eventually published in over 30 languages. The phenomena even brought a team of journalists from Time Magazine here to try to uncover the true identity of "Bridey." The book also brought a renewed interest in hypnotism and the paranormal.
According to Tighe's obituary in the New York Times, the interest began when her hypnotism story was first written by William J. Barker in The Denver Post in 1954. It got a far wider audience when "The Search for Bridey Murphy" was published in 1956 and made into a movie the same year. A record album taken from Bernstein's interviews also encouraged public debate over reincarnation and the afterlife.
Skeptics disputed the book's findings. Efforts to debunk the Bridey Murphy narrative mainly focused on the idea that Tighe's detailed recollections of an Irish life a century earlier were simply a recollection of forgotten childhood stories and memories. The public was generally split on whether to believe Bernstein's findings.
One of the arguments that would support a skeptic's point of view is that Morey Bernstein spent much of his later years leading a solitary existence. Although he owned a large home on Elizabeth Street in Pueblo, he spent his last 25 years in a modest apartment (Abriendo Arms). A local book dealer, who lived here during that period, said that Bernstein even had groceries brought in so that he did not have to interact with the public. This could be interpreted as a sense of guilt or embarrassment about the facts behind the Bridey Murphy story.
Many locals never believed that the book was a complete hoax. Bernstein was a respected Pueblo businessman who had been experimenting with hypnosis for years. His hypnosis sessions with Tighe were done in front of local witnesses who vouched for the apparent authenticity of her regression.
Tighe did not seem to be in it for the publicity or the money. She insisted that her real name not be used in the book, using"Ruth Simmons" instead. She also declined almost every opportunity to cash in on the Bridey Murphy phenomenon.
Whether Tighe really had a past life as Bridey Murphy, or even if there was a Bridey Murphy has been the subject of intense debate for more than sixty years. Either way, it is one of those unusual events that seem to get discussed around Halloween.
==================================-
More about Morey Bernstein:
His achievements include patents for instant fence; patents for pronto panels; patents for Kwik-Lok portable corrals. Chairman Bernstein Brothers Parapsychology Foundation, Member of Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, American Society Psychical Research.
Bachelor of Science in Economics with distinction, University Pennsylvania, 1941. Postgraduate, Columbia University, 1953.
Partner Bernstein Brothers Equipment Company, Bernstein Brothers Investment Company, from 1941. President Bernstein Brothers Machinery Corporation, 1946—1952. Chairman board Double-B, Inc., Wholesalers, Inc., Pueblo, from 1970.
Be sure to check out the Bernstein Brothers Room at the Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main St, Pueblo, CO (719) 542-1100. There are lots of photos of Morey and his family.
###
Gravesite Details
Morey Bernstein requested that his ashes be spread in Colorado City.
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