-Ed Conroy-
Author of Report on Communion: An Independent Investigation of and Commentary on Whitley Strieber’s Communion. Ed Conroy was a free-lance writer for the San Antonio (TX) Express-News and other publications, specializing in arts and entertainment. He is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts’ School of Critical Studies, and lives in San Antonio. 

His independent investigation of Whitley Strieber’s nonfiction book Communion is every bit as eye-opening as Communion itself. As the first in-depth report that attempts to verify experiences related by Strieber in that work, Report on Communion studies the “visitor” and UFO “abduction” phenomena. Ed Conroy presents the story behind the book and the media uproar it created in order to allow the reader to make up his or her own mind about the most compelling and widely read account of an apparent UFO "abduction.”

With Strieber’s full cooperation, Conroy has interviewed figures important to Strieber’s childhood, the writing of Communion and Transformation, his writing career in general, and the making of the film of the book. Conroy has conducted original research on similar “visitor” experiences in the vicinity of Strieber’s boyhood home in San Antonio, Texas, cross-verified facts presented in order to approach rationally the UFO phenomenon; and records his own experiences for the reader to interpret.

Conroy also discusses Communion within the larger context of the myths, folklore, and reality of our world, including the possible relationship between the “visitors” and the fairies and leprechauns of legend. He explores Communion’s place in the American UFO community and includes an exclusive interview that gives Strieber’s own thoughts on the identity of the “visitors.” But perhaps the most important question addressed in Report on Communion is “If Strieber is telling the truth, and humanity is actually entering into a new relationship with entities who are intervening dramatically in our most personal affairs, then what kind of relationship are we to establish with them?”

Ed Conroy will be presenting Sunday afternoon. His talk is titled "From UFO Researcher to Cabalist: Conroy's Transformation After His Journey Through Communion". He will also be participating in the Sunday afternoon panel discussion "Balancing Experiencer Therapy & Event Investigations".