Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Howard Storm


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   keep. It's clear that the book has multiple points that prove the notability, and as such, this is closed as keep. ( X! ·  talk )  · @189  · 03:31, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Howard Storm

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Subject fails WP:ANYBIO. Aside from writing one book on his near-death experience (which lead him to religion), I'm not seeing any other reason why the subject is notable. I also did not find many additional reliable sources to support notability outside of this one book and one experience.  Pinkadelica ♣  23:38, 9 February 2010 (UTC) "Dayton Daily News (OH) - January 28, 2006 Former atheist to tell how near-death changed life, Author, missionary says he was delivered from hell From the Oprah Winfrey Show to the spooky, after-hours radio program Coast to Coast, the Rev. Howard Storm has regaled millions with stories about his close encounter with death.Storm's dance with the devil in 1985 transformed him from an avowed atheist into a man who walks with the Lord. Storm, author of My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life, will share the astonishing events of his near-fatal episode at 6 p.m. Sunday with members and friends of St. Paul United Church..."
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Authors-related deletion discussions.  -- • Gene93k (talk) 01:47, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions.  —David Eppstein (talk) 07:13, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Delete BLP1E. Xxanthippe (talk) 09:08, 10 February 2010 (UTC).
 * Keep: Howard Storm's NDE and its after effects are notable for several reasons: (1) his NDE is highly cited in NDE research (I will append the links or references to show this) because of the specific content of the NDE (a hellish experience that changed into a positive one, his dramatic change in personality afterward -- from atheist to minister, and other unusual aspects), and (2) his story has reached "millions" via the Oprah Winfrey Show and other outlets according to the Dayton Daily News:


 * There are quite a number of additional news stories about him.
 * In addition, (3) noted fiction author Anne Rice thought so much about his book that she arranged for it to be republished in 2005 by Doubleday (publisher) . --EPadmirateur (talk) 21:23, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Comment Is there any reason why Storm's near-death experience is any more notable than anyone else's? There are literally a million other near-death experience stories that have been featured on various talk shows and news shows, why is Storm's more notable than those? Has Storm done anything notable in addition to writing a book about this one experience that would support notability? For instance, has he written any other books of note? Far as I can tell (and the article currently - and has for a very long time - supports this), this is the only event Storm is noted for. If anything, I believe an article about the book only should suffice (provided it passes WP:BK).  Pinkadelica ♣  21:53, 10 February 2010 (UTC)


 * His NDE is the best known and most commonly cited of "distressing" NDEs in the NDE research literature. To quote Nancy Evans Bush, one of the leading researchers on distressing NDEs:
 * "Among contemporary near-death experiences, the best-known of this type is no doubt that of Howard Storm (2000), self-described as an angry, hostile atheist before a harrowing experience that transmogrified into one of affirmation and transcendence. Journal of Near-Death Studies (2002)"


 * What makes it so well-known are the unusual elements of a hellish encounter (which actually is quite rare among NDEs), the apparent injury and pain experienced directly by the NDEr, not just witnessed (which is unique to my knowledge), the dramatic turnaround in the NDE to a positive experience (also not very common) and the dramatic turnaround after recovery -- from an angry atheist to a devout Christian who wept during the hymns in church (unusual for the degree of the shift). Other researchers have pointed to the unusual sensory experiences he had during his initial OBE -- standing on the cold floor (not floating), smelling certain smells, etc. All of those factors combine to make Storm's account unique and notable.
 * I would argue that it is the person and his unique experience and not simply the book that's notable here. --EPadmirateur (talk) 03:24, 11 February 2010 (UTC)


 * I fail to see how Anne Rice's personal preferences and Dayton Daily News' routine announcement can be considered indicative of the subject's notability. The same goes for being a one-time guest on the longest-running daytime talk show in the US history. — Rankiri (talk) 00:52, 11 February 2010 (UTC)


 * His telling his story on Oprah doesn't count for notability? (I used the Dayton article only as documentation that he did appear on Oprah.) Anne Rice is one of the most widely read authors in modern history (per the article on her). It's not her personal preference but the fact that she used her influence to get the book republished by a major book publisher and that arrangement was written up in USA Today among other news outlets. That's not notable? There are about 20 news articles about his telling his story to various groups from 1996 through 2006 . I think that is well above average and over a very long time compared to the usual book tour, and therefore adds to the case for notability. In addition, there is the acknowledged notability of the story itself within the NDE research community (see above). --EPadmirateur (talk) 03:24, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

 Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Tim Song (talk) 04:09, 16 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so consensus may be reached.


 * Delete - It's WP:BLP1E, pure and simple. The one event seems to have sources covering it and might be notable at a stretch but this person isn't. PanydThe muffin is not subtle 19:03, 16 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Keep Writing a book has never been regarded as BLP 1e. The book was cited in an academic journal as " the best-known of this type" (NE Bush,  Journal of Near-Death Studies, 2000 - ref. and quote already in the article) Though the author's name is common, a sufficiently specific  G Scholar search:  and a G Books search:  show it's discussed in numerous other works also--allowing for duplicates, seems to be at least 50. .    Why don';t people look for references instead of guessing?     DGG ( talk ) 02:18, 17 February 2010 (UTC)
 * The GS cites are feeble and best ignored; there is no way the subject will pass WP:Prof. The only hope is WP:Author and GB hits are not too impressive either. Xxanthippe (talk) 02:33, 17 February 2010 (UTC).


 * Comment Here are some of the instances of citing Storm's experience in the NDE literature. Note that nearly all of these were citing him well before his book was published in 2000.
 * Nancy E. Bush (2002). Afterward: Making meaning after a frightening near-death experience. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 21(2), 99-133. "Among contemporary near-death experiences, the best-known of this type is no doubt that of Howard Storm (2000), self-described as an angry, hostile atheist before a harrowing experience that transmogrified into one of affirmation and transcendence."
 * Judith Cressy, The near-death experience: Mysticism or madness, 1994, pp. 19-34. Retells Storm's story based on an earlier tape of his account.
 * Kenneth Ring and Evelyn Elsaesser Valarino, Lessons from the light, 1998, pp. 291-292, 293. "Howard Storm had been an atheistic art professor before his NDE. Afterward, he became a minister of God. Obviously, something ontologically shattering must have happened to Howard to bring about this conversion, and, if you were to read about his NDE in detail, your curiosity would be fully satisfied. His NDE, however, was extremely complex, having both hellish and heavenly aspects, by turn, and it cannot even be easily summarized, much less told here...."
 * Craig Lundahl and Harold Widdison, The eternal journey: How near-death experiences illuminate our earthly lives, 1997, pp. 227-228, 261-264. "Probably the most complete description of evil spirits in another world is given in the well-known NDE of Professor Howard Storm from Northern Kentucky University."
 * P. M. H. Atwater, The big book of near-death experiences, 2007, p. 245. Highlights Storm's NDE as a good example of an outcome that was clearly not wish fulfillment but "what he needed".
 * Arvin S. Gibson, Glimpses of Eternity: New near-death experiences examined, 1992, pp. 224, 250, 253, 261, 280-1, 298, 301, 306. "One of the most complete descriptions of evil spirits in another world is given by Professor Howard Storm, from Northern Kentucky University."
 * Arvin S. Gibson, Echoes from Eternity: New near-death experiences examined, 1993, pp. 258, 270, 305.
 * Arvin S. Gibson, Journeys beyond life: True accounts of next-world experiences, 1994, pp. 210-229, 258. Full written account of Storm's NDE, transcribed from a tape of a talk by Storm made prior to 1991.
 * Arvin S. Gibson, Fingerprints of God: Evidences from near-death studies, scientific research on creation, and Mormon theology, 1999, pp. 101-102, 188-189, 209.
 * R. G. Mays and S. B. Mays (2008). The phenomenology of the self-conscious mind. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 27(1), 5-45. The authors cite (p. 33) unusual "sensory" aspects of the initial part of Storm's NDE, "He experienced the slickness and coolness of the floor, acutely smelled the odors of the hospital room", etc.
 * I'm sure there are several other citations of Storm's NDE in the Journal of Near-Death Studies as well. These citations show that Storm's NDE has been important to near-death studies from the time Storm first told it to an audience, well before the publication of his book. --EPadmirateur (talk) 05:19, 17 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Delete. Fails WP:AUTHOR plain and simple. I don't see how writing a book with handful of citations qualifies him. See David Mertz for comparison. Pcap ping  09:21, 17 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Comment The basic notability criterion is "A person is presumed to be notable if he or she has been the subject of published secondary source material which is reliable, intellectually independent, and independent of the subject." In the case of Howard Storm:
 * His experience and his life after the experience (the "aftereffects") have been cited in at least 10 separate scholarly works on NDEs, 7 of which were published before his book was published in 2000. In their analyses, aspects of his experience are cited more than once (the different page numbers in the different references). By this count there are at least 23 times individual citations. There are probably several more such references in the literature but the ones I have listed in the article are the ones I could find without too much digging.
 * Of the 10 citations, two sources (both from 1994) were a complete re-telling of his experience, 6 years before his book was published. It's inconceivable that two scholarly authors (Cressy and Gibson) would provide a complete account of Storm's experience in their own work if they did not think it was notable. Subsequently, these two full accounts of his story were cited by other authors when referring to Storm's experience, until Storm's book was published.
 * In two of the citations (Bush and Lundahl/Widdison), his experience is described as the "the best-known of this type [of NDE]" and "the most complete description of evil spirits in another world". Both of these citations explicitly indicate recognized notability.
 * He has appeared on several nationally broadcast media: NBC's Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, 48 Hours, Discovery Channel and Coast to Coast AM. Of these five cases, three (Oprah, 48 Hours, Discovery) occurred before his book was published.
 * Noted author Anne Rice felt very strongly about Storm's book, calling his story "absolutely incredible". She helped arrange for the book to be acquired by Doubleday and re-published as a hardback, saying "I'll do anything to help get his book to the public, because he has something important to give people.".
 * So we have Storm and his story as the "subject of published secondary source material", independent of Storm in 10 scholarly works, on 5 nationally broadcast shows and cited in print by a noted author. Of these 16 sources, 10 occurred before Storm's book was published. --EPadmirateur (talk) 04:25, 19 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Keep Per refs in article and here, satisfies GNG. Well known NDE, apparently best known of type.John Z (talk) 21:58, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.