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The Modern Skeptical Movement Would Not Exist without Him RAY HYMAN

result of these disagreements, Truzzi re- signed from CSICOP to pursue his own vision for a “skeptical” journal. Under the leadership of Paul Kurtz, CSICOP grew and inspired new skep- tical groups, both on the local and the international scenes. Paul was the right person at the right time. I believe that without Paul, we would not have had a successful skeptical movement. Al - though he was an academic and a philosopher, he defied the stereotypes for these occupations and was an ex- traordinary organizer, leader, and entre- preneur. Rarely, if ever, does one en- counter the collection of abilities in one The first meeting of the CSICOP Executive Council, in New York City in August 1977. Paul Kurtz is at head of person that Paul Kurtz possessed. Paul the table. was a scholar, philosopher, prolific au- The passing of Paul Kurtz represents a normal claims. Kurtz and Truzzi decided thor, editor, successful publisher, organ- major blow to the skeptical movement. that Paul and his colleagues should join izer, leader, and tireless advocate for the Without Paul Kurtz, the modern skep- SIR to form a national skeptical organi- truth. He was truly unique. tical movement, which began with the zation. Al though Truzzi did not consult —Ray Hyman is professor emeritus of founding of CSI (originally known as Gard ner, Randi, or me in making this psychology, University of Oregon, and a CSICOP), would not exist. decision, we agreed to the partnership. founding member of the Committee for Skep- In 1973, soon after both he and I had In 1976, Randi, Gardner, and I tical Inquiry’s Executive Council. encountered Uri Geller, James Randi joined Marcello and Paul Kurtz—along met with me in Portland, Ore gon, to with a few others such as Phil Klass, Jim In Memory of a Most suggest we create a skeptical organiza- Alcock—to create CSI (originally tion to counter the fraudulent claims known as CSICOP). At first, Paul Remarkable Man and the exploitation of scientists by al- Kurtz and Marcello Truzzi served as co- JAMES ALCOCK leged psychics such as Geller. He sug- chairs. However, before our first meet- gested we use the acronym SIR (Sanity ing after the organizational one, a seri- I first met Paul in 1976 at the meeting in Research) for the name of our organ- ous division of opinion on the function at the University of Buffalo that launch - ization. The letters SIR were an anagram and goals of CSICOP became evident. ed CSICOP, and from the get-go I was of SRI (Stanford Research Institute), Truzzi wanted our journal, then called amazed by his energy, his enthusiasm, where Geller had been investigated. We The Zetetic, to be a scholarly publication and his determination to do something also included Martin Gardner in our aimed at academics. Paul and the other to stem the rising tide of pseudoscience. group. Although Gard ner, Randi, and I Executive Council members wanted the A few years later, as a member of the spent a day formulating the plans and journal also to serve the general public. objectives for our group, none of us had An even more contentious issue was Executive Council, I had the privileged organizational or administrative experi- Truzzi’s insistence that skeptical and opportunity to observe his dynamism at ence. So when Marcello Truzzi asked to pro-paranormal proponents be given close range. One thing that stands large join our group with an offer to help with equal space in our journal. Paul and the in my memory is how he never seemed organizational and administrative mat- other Executive Council members re- to slow down. For example, in an era be- ters, we readily agreed. Soon afterwards, jected this proposal. We argued that the fore cellular telephones, going to a Truzzi encountered Paul Kurtz at a con- paranormalists already had several pub- restaurant with Paul meant a number of ference. At this time, Kurtz, as editor of lications and media outlets. At the time interruptions while he made trips to the the Humanist magazine, had been wag- of CSICOP’s initiation, there were no nearest pay telephone to conduct vari- ing a campaign against fraudulent para- outlets for the skeptical viewpoint. As a ous bits of pressing business, much of

12 Volume 37 Issue 1 | Skeptical Inquirer