Walking Through Walls: A Memoir

A Gifted Man Ahead Of His Time

Finished reading this book and found it amazing, astounding and absolutely humorous. The ending itself was just too fabulous to dismiss and ironic to say the least. What a life Philip Smith had with his father, a psychic healer extraordinaire. Lew Smith was so far ahead of his time and brilliant to say the least. To heal people that way he did back then and to find that his theories, charts, contacts with those in the afterlife feeding him the information and then Lew using it to help/save others, well we can only aspire to do half of that today...if the medical society would only listen.

I am also terribly intrigued with the paintings Philip Smith does (after viewing his website). He actually incorporates his father's ideas, as well as Arthur Ford's, Chander Sen's, etc. It seems Philip is channeling all these people into his artwork and it is mesmerizing to say the least. Learning the various things I am through my associations with gifted numerologists, astrologers and psychic mediums, I can see what Philip's paintings represent and mean. Also on Philip's website are some of the drawings his father was directed to do of charts, diagnostics, etc. and the now famed pendulum he used. There are people out there who are totally gifted and Lew Smith was definitely one of them.

Thank you Philip for sharing your fascinating life with your remarkable father, with us. If only we could have known him too.

This book was very well written and not boring by any stretch of the imagination. To read something so in-depth and to have it to be humorous too is an added plus. It was like Maxwell House Coffee..."good to the last drop".

Wonderful, entertaining, unique coming-of-age memoir with amazing true healing stories & Miami in the 60's atmosphere. Fun and fascinating!

Philip Smith writes a funny, touching, vastly entertaining memoir of his childhood in Miami in the Fifties and Sixties. His father is a renowned psychic and healer on the level of Edgar Cayce, but without the fame (although he deserves it.) However, his father was also (oddly) a famous, cutting edge decorator who had celebrities as his clients and a colorful worldly existence. His son could never escape his father who could track him psychically at all times, so it was hard to be a teenager finding himself and trying to define himself from his famous father. Lew Smith, his father, did thousands of miraculous healings and even exorcisms, but never took any money. He was incredibly advanced in his healing techniques, using pendulums and guidance from the "Other Side." I LOVED THIS quirky book and if you are interested in amazing true stories of healing, touching coming of age memoirs and (worldly) spirituality - this is for you. There's nothing else like it that I've read. It should be a movie!

Walking Through Walls

If you are interested in healing, this is very interesting. It is a provocative story about a healer from a son's perspective.

I Believe!

thoroughly enjoyed this book that will have you believing in the power of the mind as well as communicating with the dead! Phillip Smith tells the story of growing up with a father (Lew) who, with the power of his mind was able to punch holes in clouds, diagnose and heal people, locate people in any part of the world, and be able to freely communicate with dead spirits. Phillip constantly rebelled at the control of his father who always knew everything that Phillip was doing as well as what Phillip was thinking. Lew was only looking out for the interest of his son and always trying to set him on the right path.
The way Phillip tells it, the reader will easily believe everything about Lew and never doubt the power of the mind and the spirit world again! I couldn't put this book down and highly recommend it!

Hogwash

My dad, Edmund Burke, was the "dean of decorators" in Miami during the time in which Mr. Smith's "memoir" takes place. To say that he's taken more than a few liberties with the truth is an understatment and his generalizations about the homosexuals, rednecks, Cubans grossly unfair to the artists, designers, architectects who contributed so much to the establishment of Miami as an international hub.

In the interest of fairness, I did check with my sis to see if she remembered Lew Smith. Nope. I, however, spent more time with my dad then she did in the 50's/60's and I seem to recall a round little man who attended the parties my dad was always throwing and his flamboyant diminituve wife, always trying and sadly failing to make much of an impression.

¿Strangely Fascinating¿

Philip, the author, grew up in the 1960¿s. That alone makes it difficult for me to relate. References to hippies, LSD, and the extreme liberal ideology amaze and confuse me. He grew up with a mother who married as an escape. Obviously, that does not last long. His father is a well-known interior decorator. He lives his life for his spiritual exploration. He conducts exorcisms, can read minds, and talks to spirits. His father becomes well respected among the hippy type. He is especially educated, and he is obsessed with fastings, brown rice, and enemas. Perhaps the worst aspect of this is that his father expected Philip to follow in his footsteps. Philip felt out of place with his ¿normal¿ peers. He longed for escape. Walking Through Walls is strangely fascinating. It is based upon a true story, yet it seems so unreal. It is disturbing and intriguing. It has been a few days since I finished this book, and I am still pondering the effects of Philip¿s childhood.

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