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Dudley Delany: A Brief Autobiography
I came into this world feet-first at 12:38 am, January 31, 1940. My mother, Constance, an attractive, well-bred housewife of 22, was in labor with me for over 17 hours at Victoria Hospital in Miami, Florida. I was her first-born, and my middle name, Jack, was bestowed in honor of the attending obstetrician, Dr. Ralph W. Jack, for whom, as for everyone else involved, the whole procedure must have been quite an ordeal. My first and last name were that of my father, a tall, handsome, 28 year-old lifeguard for the city of Miami Beach. My sister, Angeline, was born almost two years later.
Due to financial difficulties, the marriage broke up a in 1943, at which time my mother took me and my sister to New York City, where she obtained work as a secretary and bookkeeper. One of her bosses, an orphan who had made good in the printing and bookbinding business, fathered my two half-brothers. Because he already had a wife and children living in New Jersey, I seldom saw him. Being an older man, he died not many years later of heart disease.
At first, we lived mostly in slum neighborhoods of Brooklyn, the Bronx, and even for a time in Manhattan's infamous "Hell's Kitchen." In 1948, however, with the help of a small inheritance, we moved to a pleasant residential area in Queens.
I attended New York City public schools, graduating from Bayside High School in June of 1957. I did tolerably well in most of my subjects, especially those that were science-related. However, I failed German with such a low mark I was forbidden to repeat it. Ironically, about a decade later, I took 18 credits of college German with a straight "A" average, even toying with the idea of teaching the langauge. I am also very fond of German music.
After graduation, I studied for a year at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, hoping to become a mechanical engineer. However, lacking the discipline and advanced math skills needed to succeed in such a rigorous program, I flunked out. I will never forget taking a fifty-minute math test and scoring a "0" on it! My mind was definitely on more important things--like tennis (I was an avid player from 1954 to 1964), record collecting, and steam engines.
In August of 1958, I obtained work in the Engineering Books Section of Barnes & Noble, Inc. The customers and co-workers were very nice, but the pay was discouragingly low.
A few months later, therefore, I took and passed a civil service test that led, in January of 1959, to my appointment as a clerk in the Flushing Post Office. Night work and the boredom of sorting mail proved to be a wonderul incentive to continue my education.
Consequently, in September of 1961, I left the post office to study psychology at Queens College of the City University of New York. I graduated with honors in February of 1964 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
I furthered my studies in psychology at the New School for Social Research, graduating in June of 1967 with a Masters of Arts degree. It was while attending the New School that I became a born-again Christian, by far the best thing that ever happened to me.
Two months after graduation, I moved to Washington, D.C., to take a job as a survey statistician for the U.S. Census Bureau. I was deemed to have fifteen college credits in math and statistics, which qualified me for that particular position. My coursework in psychology was inconsequential.
A music lover all my life, it was while singing at a church in a Washington, D.C., suburb that I met Ella, my future wife. Also a Christian, she was beautiful, loving, and had a sunny disposition. We were wed in her church after a brief engagement and settled quickly into married life.
Although my job at the Census Bureau was to be my highest attainment in federal service (GS-11), I was simply not happy there. It was just too boring--the original "Dullsville," as someone termed it.
So, in August of 1970, Ella and I moved to New York City so that I could pursue a career in healthcare at the Columbia Institute of Chiropractic. She worked while I studied, and, in September of 1973, I graduated as Salutatorian of my class with a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. I was surprised and disappointed at the amount of cheating I saw there, and a number of students seemed to be primarily money- rather than service-oriented.
From 1974 to 1980, I practiced my new profession in northeast New Jersey (mostly part-time while working for the Social Security Administration), but my practice never got off the ground. An osteopath I knew told me I would starve as a chiropractor--and he was right.
In 1975, Ella bore twin boys, Joel and Mark, ten weeks premature. Mark died of a lung infection about a month after birth. Two years later, Ella left me for a childhood sweetheart, taking Joel with her. By his choice and due to her influence, I was to see my son only six or eight times after that. May the Lord lay it not to their charge.
In 1979, at a weekend holistic health conference in a New Jersey motel, I had a most remarkable dream. It became a vision in which I was the occupant of an androgenous resurrection body, reigning and ruling with Christ in His millennial kingdom (a thousand-year period during which there will truly be peace on earth and good will toward men). I believe that is the hope--and destiny--of every born-again Christian.
In 1981, I gave up on chiropractic and studied massage therapy for a year at New York's Swedish Institute of Massage and Allied Health Sciences. The spirit of love, unity, and service I encountered there made it the most enjoyable of all my educational experiences.
After graduation, I practiced massage in New York (again, mostly part-time while working for the government) until my mother died in the summer of 1983, whereupon I moved first to Texas (where I worked as a medical claims examiner), then Arizona (where I served as a corrections officer), and finally, in December of 1984, relocated to the oceanfront in Virginia Beach.
After a year of working as an office temp, I tried my hand again at massage therapy, first for a chiropractor and then for the A.R.E. in its Health Services Department. Because most clients prefer a female practitioner, however, I was unable to survive as a massage therapist. Therefore, in October of 1987, I returned to federal service, this time as a nursing assistant on the spinal cord injury ward of the Hampton VA Hospital. I served there for seven years, and it turned out to be the most rewarding employment experience of my life. The patients were so pitiful, so uncomplaining, so appreciative, and so undemanding, I couldn't help but love them. My own troubles seemed insignificant in comparison to theirs. Consequently, caring for them was uplifting instead of depressing. Near the end of that period, I became a registered nurse and subsequently transferred to the Dallas VA hospital, where I retired in February of 1995. All told, I had accumulated 24 years of federal service.
In anticipation of my retirement, I had read that Mexico was not only inexpensive, but the people were friendly and the weather good. Thus, in April of 1995, I moved to Guadalajara and soon found a lovely furnished apartment in an upscale neighborhood.
While there, I began work on a book about my successful conquest of multiple sclerosis using an alternative treatment suggested by Edgar Cayce. I developed the condition a few years after starting work as a nursing assistant. After two years of patiently and persistently applying the Cayce remedies, the disease went into long-term remission.
In September of 1995, I returned to Virginia Beach to finish my book and find a publisher for it. Unfortunately, no publisher was forthcoming. So, at great personal expense, I published it myself.
My book, The Edgar Cayce Way of Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis: Vibratory Medicine, went through five hard copy editions before going out of print in the summer of 2002. A book before its time, it lost money--sometimes thousands of dollars--every year it was in print. People with MS and organizations that represented them were not ready to receive a book that was based on psychic information and that employed unproven treatments not founded on any known laws of science. I ended up giving a majority of the copies away. Even so, it can still be read free of charge online, where it awaits discovery by a future, hopefully more receptive generation.
To help make ends meet, I tried nursing on a part-time basis, but it was too stressful. Also, by that time, massage therapy had become too exhausting--I needed to get massages, not give them!
So, in September of 1997, with the help of AARP's Senior Citizen's Employment Service, I got a job driving a vehicle for a car dealership in Hampton. This enabled me to learn the highways and byways of that city so well that, in July of 1998, I was able to leave the dealership and begin part-time employment as a driver for the Yellow Cab Company. I like people and I like driving, so my career as a professional driver worked out really well for me. Being a cabby was a particularly memorable experience, as I met many interesting, amusing, and colorful characters. Best of all, it gave me the chance to get to know and love my dark-skinned brothers and sisters, for most of my passengers were African-American. They are special, and I know that God loves them, too.
When hurricane Isabel swept me out of the cab business in September of 2003, I found refuge for six months at my sister's place in New Jersey. While there, I obtained part-time employment as a clerk in the Deli Department of a nearby supermarket. Upon my return to Virginia Beach in April of 2004, I continued in that line of work until my retirement in December of 2005.
Early in 2008, to help me better understand Low Dose Naltrexone (in my opinion, a miracle medicine), I enrolled in and completed a program in pharmacy technology.
My life has taken many twists and turns. On the one hand, I have definitely had my share of failures, heartaches, and disappointments; I have also had my share of weird experiences. On the other hand, I have been greatly blessed with wonderful educational and service opportunities, not to mention the help, support, love, and encouragement of numerous friends, relatives, teachers, neighbors, and co-workers. My mother, in particular, deserves special praise, for, by some miracle of grace, she managed to raise four children single-handedly against what seemed at times to be impossible odds--as she put it, "with just a toothbrush." And, of course, knowing the Lord has meant all the difference in the world to me. On the whole, I can truthfully say with Kind David of old, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places: yea, I have a goodly heritage." (Psalm 16:6, KJV).
My hobbies include music, reading, brisk walking,church, volunteer work, watching TV (especially comedy), and using the Internet to promote a better, safer, saner, healthier, happier, and more spiritual world.
My favorite colors are blue, white, and gold.
Some of my favorite sayings:Life: "If something can go wrong, it eventually will."
In my opinion, women are the most beautiful of all God's creations, and flowers are a close second.
Nursing: "If something can end up on the floor, it eventually will."
Writing: "There is no such thing as good writing, only good re-writing."
Relationships: "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."
Romance: "Half the world is looking for someone, and the other half is looking to dump the someone they have."
Diet: "A moment on the lips, forever on the hips."
Cats: "Cats are little women with fur coats."
Dogs: "Dogs are little men with fur coats."
Acting: "Never play the bad guy."
Cinema: "Movies are like life, but with the boring parts cut out."
Spirituality: "How much can I get away with and still go to heaven?"
Epitaph: "I told you I was sick."
Last Will & Testament: "Being of sound mind, I spent it all."
My favorite Scripture verse is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (KJV)
My biggest regret is having yielded as often as I did to weaknesses of the flesh.
If I have one piece of advice to offer, it is this: make knowing God your highest aim, and--no matter who they are, what they look like, or what they may have said or done--treat all people with courtesy and respect.
For more information about me, visit
A Discount Source of Edgar Cayce Books
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Send E-Mail to: dudley_delany@yahoo.com
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