Biography:Susan Gerbic

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Short description: American skepticism activist (born 1962)
Susan Gerbic
Head shot of Gerbic
Gerbic in 2016
Born1962 (age 61–62)
Salinas, California, U.S.
Alma materCalifornia State University, Monterey Bay (BA)
OccupationStudio photographer
EmployerLifetouch Portrait Studios (1982–2016)
Known forScientific skepticism
Websiteabouttimeproject.wordpress.com

Susan Gerbic (born 1962) is an American studio photographer who became known as a scientific skepticism activist, mostly for exposing people claiming to be mediums.[1][2][3] A columnist for Skeptical Inquirer,[4] she is the co-founder of Monterey County Skeptics[5] and a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.[6]

Early life and education

The youngest of three children, Gerbic was raised as a Southern Baptist in Salinas, California.[7] Her father was born in 1918 in Euclid, Ohio, to parents from Slovenia; he served during World War II and after the war went to live in Salinas.[8] Gerbic attended Fremont Elementary, El Sausal Junior High School,[9] and Alisal High School in Salinas, graduating in 1980.[1] She became an atheist in her junior year. After high school, she studied at Hartnell College, also in Salinas,[7] obtaining AAs in general studies in 1993 and history in 1998,[9] while working and raising two sons. In 2002, she was awarded a BA in Social & Behavioral Studies by California State University, Monterey Bay.[7]

Career and activism

Photography

Gerbic worked at Lifetouch, a portrait studio in JC Penney in the Northridge Mall in Salinas, from 1982[1] for 34 years, including as manager.[7] She retired in 2016 when the studio closed.[7]

Guerrilla Skeptics

Gerbic, with D. J. Grothe (left) and James Randi (right), receives the James Randi Award for Skepticism in the Public Interest at The Amazing Meeting, July 2013

Gerbic first read Skeptical Inquirer when she was 33,[7] and in 2000, she attended the Skeptic's Toolbox workshop in Eugene, Oregon.[10] In 2009, she went to Mexico on an "Amazing Adventure" cruise organized by the Canadian stage magician and skeptic James Randi; according to the New York Times, Randi used a MacArthur grant to fund "annual ship cruises filled with skeptics".[3]

Much of Gerbic's activism has consisted of organizing sting operations against people claiming to be mediums. She and a group of volunteers calling themselves "Guerrilla Skeptics" would set up fake Facebook profiles, then visit mediums claiming to be receiving messages from the subjects of the profiles. Gerbic's team would record the session and post the evidence online.[3]

In 2010, Gerbic founded "Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia" (GSoW),[11] a group of editors who create and edit Wikipedia articles that reflect scientific skepticism.[7][12] The New York Times Magazine reported in February 2019, in an interview with Gerbic, that GSoW had 144 editors who had worked on nearly 900 Wikipedia pages.[3]

Awards and honors

Personal life

Gerbic married Robert Forsyth in 1983.[17] The couple had two sons, and the marriage ended in 2002. As of August 2018, Gerbic was in a relationship with the mentalist Mark Edward.[7] They met in 2009 on one of James Randi's skeptics' cruises to Mexico; Edward was working on the ship as part of the entertainment.[3]

Gerbic in December 2013

In 2013, Gerbic discovered she had breast cancer after she and a colleague at Lifetouch studios scheduled mammograms in response to Angelina Jolie undergoing a preventive mastectomy.[18] By December that year, Gerbic had completed 20 weeks of chemotherapy for stage II cancer and, by March 2014, 33 radiation treatments.[19] Gerbic continued to work throughout the treatment, and her follow-up mammogram revealed no cancer. She said the experience had made her tougher.[18]

  • James Randi announcing Gerbic has won the JREF prize for 2017

  • Gerbic speaking about GSoW, 17th European Skeptics Congress, Wrocław, Poland

  • Gerbic (second left) at QEDcon 2014 with Michael Marshall, Eran Segev and Samantha Stein

  • Susan Gerbic on her visit in Slovenia (2017)

See also

  • What's The Harm?

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nordstrand, Dave (July 5, 2014). "Staying on the job during cancer treatment". The Salinas Californian. http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/life/2014/07/05/staying-job-cancer-treatment/12202333/. 
  2. ↑ Matsakis, Louise (July 25, 2018). "The 'Guerrilla' Wikipedia Editors Who Combat Conspiracy Theories". Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/guerrilla-wikipedia-editors-who-combat-conspiracy-theories/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Hitt, Jack (February 26, 2019). "Inside the Secret Sting Operations to Expose Celebrity Psychics". The New York Times Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/magazine/psychics-skeptics-facebook.html. 
  4. ↑ "Author: Susan Gerbic". Skeptical Inquirer.
  5. ↑ "Monterey County Skeptics". https://www.meetup.com/Monterey-County-Skeptics/members/?op=leaders. 
    Taylor, Dennis L. (January 3, 2015). "Skeptics take on God, psychics, even science". Monterey Herald. https://www.montereyherald.com/2015/01/03/skeptics-take-on-god-psychics-even-science/. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Elects Six New Fellows". Center for Inquiry. February 7, 2018. https://centerforinquiry.org/news/committee-for-skeptical-inquiry-elects-six-new-fellows/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Hale, Mike (August 23, 2018). "The enthusiastic life of a happy skeptic". https://voicesofmontereybay.org/2018/08/23/the-enthusiastic-life-of-a-happy-skeptic/. 
  8. ↑ Gerbic, Susan (March 2, 2018). "Skeptical Adventures in Europe, Part 5". Skeptical Inquirer.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 School details. Susan Gerbic Voice.ogg.
  10. ↑ Radford, Ben (March 2012). "Skepticism One Wikipage at a Time: Talking with Wikiskeptic Susan Gerbic-Forsyth". Skeptical Inquirer 36 (2): 32–33. https://skepticalinquirer.org/2012/03/skepticism_one_wikipage_at_a_time_talking_with_wikiskeptic_susan_gerbic_forsyth/. 
  11. ↑ Gerbic, Susan (March 8, 2015). "Wikapediatrician Susan Gerbic discusses her Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia project". Skeptical Inquirer. http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/wikapediatrician_susan_gerbic_discusses_her_guerrilla_skepticism_on_wikiped. 
  12. ↑ Plait, Phil (May 23, 2013). "'Bad Astronomy' on the Front Page of Wikipedia Today. Literally". Slate.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "The Amaz!ng Meeting 2015: Susan Gerbic". TAM13.
  14. ↑ "2017 JREF Award". https://web.randi.org/home/2017-jref-award. 
  15. ↑ Fidalgo, Paul (April 2022). "Timothy Caulfield, Susan Gerbic Awarded Balles Prizes for Critical Thinking". Skeptical Inquirer 46 (2). https://skepticalinquirer.org/2022/02/timothy-caulfield-susan-gerbic-awarded-balles-prizes-for-critical-thinking/. 
  16. ↑ "April 2022 - NCAS Awards Philip J. Klass Award to Susan Gerbic". 20 April 2022. https://www.ncas.org/2022/04/april-2022-ncas-awards-philip-j-klass.html. 
  17. ↑ "Marriages". The Californian. 3 November 1983, p. 15.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Norstrand, Dave (July 5, 2014). "Working during cancer treatments". The Californian, pp. 1C, 8C.
  19. ↑ Saunders, Richard (January 17, 2014). "An interview with Susan Gerbic". The Skeptic Zone podcast. http://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the-skeptic-zone-274-17-jan-2014. 

Further reading



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