Today I attended the funeral and burial of a great lady: Sarah Estep, the founder of the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena. Sarah died on January 3, of kidney failure, following a two-week illness. She was 81.
Everyone who has ever done EVP for investigations, research or personal study owes Sarah a huge debt. She has left behind a phenomenal legacy: the AA-EVP, an international research organization she established in 1982; a classification of voices; a library of thousands of recordings she herself made over the years; and inspiration and passion that have fueled countless researchers.
I became friends with Sarah several years ago, when I lived a few miles from her home in Annapolis, Maryland. She was warm, witty and wonderful company, and she generously let me listen to many of her EVP recordings, and even experiment with her original reel-to-reel setup, shown in the photograph I took of her in her study. She possessed a great store of knowledge, and a zest for investigating the unknown, especially the afterlife and survival.
Things come full circle in remarkable ways. The casket that now serves as the final resting place of Sarah’s physical form was also the beginning of her remarkable study of the afterlife. As a child, she once sneaked peeks into caskets at the funeral parlor owned by her grandparents in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It seemed obvious to her that death was an end, final.
Later in life, she undertook EVP experiments to prove to herself that there is no survival after death. Night after night she recorded without results. Just as she was about to give up, she recorded a clear female voice that said, “Our world is one of beauty.” She was a believer.
One of her most remarkable EVPs was, “Death no more a casket.”
Sarah is now on the Other Side, discovering wonders that we here on this side only glimpse. Undoubtedly we will hear much from her – she’s quite determined when she sets her mind to a task.
The service for Sarah was lovely, and daughter Becky gave a moving eulogy. Three white doves were released at graveside in Annapolis. Among those attending were Tom and Lisa Butler, who have led the AA-EVP at its Reno headquarters since 2000, and Richard Shenk, a longtime AA-EVP member and researcher from Delaware.
Sarah’s last public appearance was in 2006, at the AA-EVP conference in Atlanta. She delivered a marvelous speech on her career in EVP, and was recognized with a lifetime achievement award.
The AA-EVP is establishing a memorial fund in Sarah’s name to help continue research. Contributions may be made to the AAEVP, PO Box 1311, Reno, NV 89507.
My article on Sarah, her life and research (FATE Magazine, December 2004), is posted on my website at http://www.visionaryliving.com/articles/estep.php.
