Staab's great-great-granddaughter, Hannah Nordhaus, turned to
people ranging from family members to psychics to learn about
the woman behind the phantom. She chronicled the process in her
book "American Ghost."
Nordhaus spoke to Reuters about family history and the
supernatural.
Q: Why did you decide to include psychics and mediums in
your research?
A: The reason that people know about Julia in the first place is
because she’s this famous ghost in New Mexico. And I didn’t see
how I could tell her story without addressing that fact because
that’s what kept her alive.
Q: Did your opinion of the psychics and mediums change
because of your research?
A: I probably have more respect and empathy for them. I
thought it was a bit of a joke when I started, and when you
spend an hour in a room with people, it’s pretty hard to still
think of them as sort of cut-out-paper people. I realized they
truly believe in what they did, and I appreciated what they did.
Q: Do you believe in ghosts?
A: I did have an experience in Julia’s room, although I don’t
know if it really happened. It seemed like it happened, but I
was sort of in that state between waking and sleeping, and I
really wanted it to happen, so I can’t really trust myself.
It’s sort of hard to say yes, I believe in ghosts because I am
an empirical person, and before I started this book, I wrote
about science ... But you hear so many stories. People are just
so convinced of what they’ve seen. So I don’t really see the
point in not believing. So I guess I would come out of the
closet and say: "Sure, I believe in ghosts."'
Q: What was the most valuable thing you learned?
A: How lucky I am to have the opportunities that I have, to have
the support I have from my family and friends, to be able to get
on a plane and go home whenever I want, to have been born with a
resilient constitution and have grown up in an environment that
kept it intact. And Julia didn't have these things, and I think
that's the saddest thing about the book.
(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Ted Botha)
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