DeMARCO, Frank 1946-

PERSONAL:

Born July 27, 1946, in Vineland, NJ; son of Frank (a farmer and builder) and Elvira (a homemaker; maiden name, Cirelli) DeMarco; married Jean Lesh (a homemaker), August 9, 1969; children: Sarah, David. Education: George Washington University, B.A., 1969; University of Iowa, M.A., 1971. Politics: "Dissident." Religion: "Unchurched."

ADDRESSES:

Office—c/o Hampton Roads Publishing Co., Inc., 1125 Stony Ridge Rd., Charlottesville, VA 22902. E-mail—demarco@hrpub.com.

CAREER:

Editor and author. Norfolk Pilot (newspaper), Norfolk, VA, 1986-90; Hampton Roads Publishing, Charlottesville, VA, founder and editor-in-chief, 1990—.

MEMBER:

Monroe Institute (member, professional division), Society for Scientific Exploration.

WRITINGS:

Messenger: A Sequel to Lost Horizon, Hampton Roads Publishing (Charlottesville, VA), 1994.

Muddy Tracks: Exploring an Unsuspected Reality, introduction by Colin Wilson, Hampton Roads Publishing (Charlottesville, VA), 2001.

(With Rita Q. Warren and Hank Wesselman) Upshifting: Changing Your Viewpoint, Your Life, and Our World, Hampton Roads Publishing (Charlottesville, VA), 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A nonfiction book about making comprehensible many of the so-called paranormal or miraculous enigmas of the world; a novel, Conspiracies of Men and God, exploring the themes of conspiracies and political change.

SIDELIGHTS:

"My prime motivator," author and publisher Frank DeMarco told CA, "may be described simply as a search for greater mental and spiritual abilities. Our culture, by and large, does not recognize entire segments of reality to be of prime importance and therefore is unable to help us live the lives we were created for. Muddy Tracks: Exploring an Unsuspected Reality is the first of several books I hope to write describing reality as I have discovered it in the course of active investigation."

In Muddy Tracks DeMarco includes descriptions of his years-long efforts to discover his higher self, hoping to assist readers in doing the same. His search began in 1970, when his reading of Colin Wilson's science-fiction novel The Mind Parasites convinced him that all humans have paranormal or psychic abilities. That year he also took mescaline, an experience that convinced him that there is no such thing as coincidence. Through these beliefs, DeMarco claims, he gained first-hand knowledge that human beings are eternal souls only briefly embodied. More importantly, he believes, we are connected to each other and to a larger being, whether that being is called God or the Universe.

In her review of Muddy Tracks, Lisa Liquori commented in Library Journal: "Although the content is a bit gaping, DeMarco shows readers by example how to cultivate deeper connections with a greater, wiser being. Frank discussion of concepts such as 'psychic's disease' and the 'no-guru zone' balances this tale with the author's contention that extrasensory possibilities exist for all. DeMarco conclusively argues that if people can carefully integrate their past and present multilayered memories to create more conscious, less isolated lives, their 'muddy footprints' will bring about a world where fewer social problems exist."

"I have been largely influenced by the work of Colin Wilson, Laurens van der Post, Carl Jung, Wilson van Dusen and, especially, the practical work, as well as the books, of Robert Monroe," DeMarco continued to CA. "All these speak to the natural depth in man; all these lead directly contrary to the life-denying materialist philosophy that has done so much damage to the Western culture that was once so life-affirming."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, March 1, 2001, Lisa Liquori, review of Muddy Tracks: Exploring an Unsuspected Reality, p. 116.

Publishers Weekly, February 19, 2001, review of Muddy Tracks, p. 84.

ONLINE

Hampton Roads Publishing Web site,http://www.hrpub.com/ (February 22, 2004).*