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Patience Worth/Pearl Curran

by George Bailey • Published: June 21, 2007

Pearl Curran was an Illinois-born writer who claimed her entire output of poetry and prose was dictated to her by the ghost of Patience Worth. Pearl claims her first encounter with the spirit was through a Ouija Board. Lacking any formal education to speak of, Pearl's paranormal explanation for her work was more seriously considered than it probably would have been in less extenuating circumstances. Late in her life Pearl Curran stopped writing, according to her because the ghost ceased to appear to her. Her public persona suffered the lashes of skepticism-- she was accused of exaggerating her "country" upbringing in order to gain fame as a novelty writer-- and none of her work survives.

Recent Contributions to this Article

Well, Mr.Bailey, what do you use for reference material? Pearl Curran did not lack a formal education. Granted she didn't go to college, but like many other middle class people of the early 20th century she did complete grammar school plus a little more. She was not an uneducated person and could keep up intellectually with highly educated persons including Phds and MDs who came to see her and hear Patience Worth. Pearl wrote at least one short story on her own which was good enough to be published in the Saturday Evening Post and was accused by one person of having a good education based upon high quality of several speeches she gave. Pearl Curran and Patience Worth never stopped writing together. Such collaboration continued up until the last three weeks before Pearl died of pneumonia in December 1937. Patience Worth's "ghost" never did appear to Pearl Curran. Only one occasion is documented in which Pearl, in a psychic discernment "saw" Patience getting on a ship in England headed for the new colonies, but this was not a "ghost appearing to her" by any means. I suggest that anyone interested in learning about Pearl Curran and Patience Worth should read "The Case of Patience Worth by Dr. Walter Franklin Prince. After that, read Irving Litvag's "Singer in the Shadows: The Strange Story of Patience Worth". Both books are easily available through online bookstores.
Posted by: Amos Oliver Doyle on Jul 21, 2007 Unverified

I'm not sure what George Bailey meant when he said that "none of her work survives." There are two on-line books of material by Patience Worth available, one containing some early poems and the other, her masterpiece novel "The Sorry Tale" and although her poems and books are out of print some copies of them may be purchased through on-line bookstores. There is a web-site at www.patienceworth.org that has some of her poetry. Most of the original notes and work by Pearl Curran/Patience Worth can be viewed at the Missouri Historical Society in Forest Park, St. Louis Missouri.
Posted by: Amos Oliver Doyle on Mar 31, 2007 Unverified

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