Stewart Edward White (March 12, 1873 – September 18, 1946) was best known as a popular author of adventure and travel stories. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan in 1895 and earned his M.A. from Columbia University in 1903. His first book, The Westerner (1901), was soon followed by The Claim Jumper and The Blazed Trail, the latter becoming a bestseller and widely regarded as his best non-metaphysical work.
In 1919, White’s life took a turn when his wife, Elizabeth “Betty” White, discovered she could receive messages from spirits through automatic writing and trance voice communication. Before then, White had been skeptical. As he later wrote, “I had paid such matters very little attention; and had formed no considered opinions on them one way or another. By way of unconsidered opinion I suppose I would, if called upon to express myself, have taken my stand on the side of skepticism. This was because, like the average man, I referred all ‘occult’ or ‘psychic’ matters to spiritualism; which is also the savage’s method. And spiritualism meant to me either hysteria or clever conjuring or a blend of both. I knew that it had been ‘exposed.’”
White’s first philosophical book, Credo (1925), explored the question of survival after death, based on messages Betty received from what he called the “Invisibles.” Yet, he didn’t mention Betty or where the messages came from. His next book, Why Be a Mud Turtle? (1928), followed the same pattern, offering spiritual insights without revealing their origin. It wasn’t until 1937 that White publicly acknowledged the source with The Betty Book: Excursions into the World of Other-Consciousness Made by Betty between 1919 and 1936. Even then, Betty’s identity was kept private.
After Betty passed away in 1939, White continued receiving messages from her—this time through a medium known only as “Joan.” These later teachings were gathered into The Unobstructed Universe, published in 1940.
