Lloyd Kenyon Jones

Lloyd Kenyon Jones was a newspaper journalist, lecturer, and author who was raised in Wisconsin and became associated with the religion of Spiritualism during the early 20th century. Jones began his working life as an assistant in a print shop or "printer's devil" in a small town in Wisconsin. He soon moved into journalism, first in Wisconsin, then in Chicago, Illinois. He studied mysticism and occultism, and while a young man he became a practitioner of hypnotism and mentalism, touring the countryside for a while giving demonstrations of these arts. He later became interested in yoga and Buddhism and studied these traditions as well as Spiritualism. His writings covered a variety of subjects, including sports journalism, divination from dreams, Spiritualism, the development of mediumship, faith healing, self-help, and mystical Christianity. During the 1910s, he worked with Mrs. Cecil M. Cook, Pastor and Medium of the William T. Stead Memorial Center in Chicago, Illinois, acting as a shorthand scribe during her seances, and editing the results of her spirit contacts into book form. He was also the founder and editor of the magazine Communion. Several of Jones' books remain in print in the 21st century. In particular, The Eighteen Absent Years of Jesus Christ, which he had completed at the time of his death, and which was published posthumously, has continued to find an audience with mainstream Christians as well as Spiritualists.