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3-Day Motivational Conference Includes Spirited Communications With The Dead

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By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 2, 2008

Lisa Williams says that spirits sometimes can get a little too frisky.

The television psychic recalls a funny moment during a "reading" when a woman's deceased husband started recalling their "great sex life."

"He started telling everybody about it, including what color her underwear was," she said in a recent telephone interview. "It was funny and a little embarrassing, so I had to tell him to keep that in the spirit world."

Not everyone believes in communicating with the dead, but there are enough people who do to make Williams a celebrity.

Recent polls indicate about 75 percent of Americans believe in some aspect of the paranormal, including predicting the future, ESP, ghosts and channeling the departed.

A spiritual healer, communicator with the dead and host of a Lifetime network series, "Life Among the Dead," Williams is coming to Tampa on Friday as part of the "I Can Do It" conference at the Tampa Convention Center.

Featuring 32 speakers through Sunday, "I Can Do It" could be the largest and most diverse gathering of New Age motivational celebrities in the country.

In addition to Williams, the roster includes dog behavior specialist Cesar Millan ("The Dog Whisperer"); psychic Sylvia Browne; motivational expert and host of numerous PBS specials Wayne W. Dyer; newspaper columnist and stress relief expert Loretta LaRoche (another PBS regular); and best-selling self-improvement author Marianne Williamson.

Also in the lineup is Doreen Virtue, a "spiritual doctor of psychology and lifelong clairvoyant who works with the angelic realm," and Sandra Anne Taylor, an expert in romantic love and "the quantum mechanics of personal happiness and financial success."

For details on the event and speakers, go to www.icandoit.net.

Williams, 35, who first discovered her "ability" when she was a child, is from Birmingham, England, but she now lives with her husband and 8-year-old son in Los Angeles. She says that throughout the years, she has encountered a few frightening spirits, such as an angry shadow of a man who tried to attack her son when he was 5.

"We had to flee the house," she says. It turned out that the spirit was trapped on Earth because of unresolved issues and just needed help crossing over, she says.

"Most of the spirits come through basically to say that they are OK, or that they are sorry for something unresolved and to say, 'Let life continue,' and they'll be waiting," she says. "It helps give closure to their loved ones."

Williams often lectures and does readings as a solo act. At this conference, she will be teaching people how to develop their spiritual side in a three-hour session that also will include some readings.

Her Lifetime series returns in a new format Oct. 27 for a five-day run.

"We've made some changes, and it's a test to see if we're on the right track."

NEWMAN REMEMBERED: Turner Classic Movies is dedicating its entire 24-hour schedule Oct. 12 to the memory of Paul Newman, who died Sept. 26 at the age of 83. The 11 Newman films include "Cool Hand Luke" (1967) and his breakthrough role in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956), as well as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "Torn Curtain" (1966) and the gripping drama "Hud" (1963).

WARREN SAPP: Mario Lopez, the former "Saved by the Bell" star who gained new fame from "Dancing With the Stars," says that Warren Sapp has emerged as the man to beat on the current "Dancing" competition.

Lopez, now host of "Extra," has high praise for the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer defensive standout who has been a hoot to watch, especially when he did the pasodoble while dolled up in pleather and sequins like a bloated version of Keanu Reeves from "The Matrix."

TUNE IN TONIGHT

The Vice Presidential Debate, 9 p.m., PBS

Gwen Ifill, of PBS' "Washington Week," moderates the shootout between Republican candidate Sarah Palin and Democratic candidate Joe Biden. It also airs on NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel and C-SPAN.

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