TAVES, Ernest H(enry) 1916-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born February 1, 1916, in Aberdeen, ID; died of complications following a heart attack, August 16, 2003, in Cambridge, MA. Psychiatrist and author. Taves had a private practice in psychiatry for many years before his writing career took off and he became a full-time author. Completing his undergraduate studies at Columbia University in 1937, he earned his M.A. there in 1938 and a Ph.D. in 1941; this was followed by a medical degree from New York University in 1945. From 1946 to 1948, Taves served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps as chief of neuropsychiatric service in Japan. He then returned to the United States to complete his residency before starting a private practice in New York City in 1949. Taves moved his practice to Cambridge in 1954. Having always enjoyed writing, he published his first story in 1968 and, by 1972, was doing so well as an author that he quit psychiatry to pursue writing full time. Taves's interest in parapsychology and unusual phenomena led to his writing The UFO Enigma (1977) with Donald H. Menzel; along these lines, he was also a consultant to the Commission for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Taves's other writings include two books about the Mormon Church: Trouble Enough: Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon (1984) and This Is the Place: Brigham Young and the New Zion (1990)

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Boston Globe, August 21, 2003, p. B12.

Boston Herald, August 31, 2003, p. 70.

Skeptical Inquirer, November-December, 2003, p. 11. .