Derek Acorah RIP

[poliphilo]

I keep starting a post about Derek Acorah- who died a few days ago- and keep abandoning it- because what do you say about him? What was the core of him? What was his truth? He sold himself as a spirit medium- and for six seasons- between 2001 and 2005- established himself as a household name as resident psychic on the ghost-hunting show, Most Haunted- a perch from which he was removed after he'd been suckered into channelling spirits that were invented for the purpose of making a fool of him (example- the highwayman Rik Eedles- anagram of Derek Lies.) Sceptics hated him for being a fraud and spiritualists hated him for the same reason because if you want to establish- once and for all- in black and white- that psychism does/doesn't exist- the likes of him muddy the waters. The likes of Him? Only there never was anyone like him. His flamboyance registered high on the Arcati scale- but his style was entirely his own- burly, intimidating, Liverpool accented and camp. He was an original, a slippery customer and wonderfully entertaining.