Mary Howis didn’t wake up one morning and decide to talk to Freddie in the spirit
world. Freddie came to her, and she was dragged kicking and screaming into a very
strange reality indeed. It’s this initial reluctance to believe that convinced me that Mary
is genuine.
Sometimes writers just get a feel from those they’re interviewing that something isn’t
quite right. Outrageous stories are often accompanied by a desire for publicity, money
or both. Mary doesn’t strike me as a publicity-seeker or a money-grabber. In fact she’s
humble, self-effacing even.
Some of the messages that Freddie seemingly gives to Mary are surprisingly
philosophical and touch on things such as life, death and the nature of the afterlife.
Mary eventually came to terms with the fact that the spirit of a dead rock icon was
contacting her from “the other side” and is now quite comfortable with the idea. In fact,
The Mercury Man is filled with vignettes which have an eerie ring of truth about them.
In one incident Mary heard Freddie singing the lyrics to Another One Bites the Dust,
and sensed that it was a warning of some kind. She checked on her partner Norman
and found him choking on some tablets that he’d tried to swallow in one go instead of
individually. “Its lucky I was there”, she told me.
Norman is alive and well, and there is no doubt Mary believes that it was Freddie’s
timely intervention – albeit a musical one – that helped.
Understandably some will pour scorn on Mary’s claims, but just stop and think for a
moment: Every day thousands of people claim that they are contacted by the spirits
of those who have passed into the Beyond. Surely even famous personages – even
rock stars – will eventually get their turn sometime.
I suppose it’s inevitable, then, that Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, Elvis Presley and
Jimmi Hendrix may even make their presence felt at some point.
The Mercury Man is a fascinating account of a woman who was forced to acknowledge
that there really is life after death. That this realisation was brought to her by a rock star
of legendary stature makes it mandatory reading for those seeking a cure for a closed
mind.
The Mercury Man by Mary Howis is illustrated by many colour photographs and
published by Apex Publishing (ISBN: 1-904444-18-0) at £6.99.
