Jess Stearn

Jess Stearn (April 26, 1914 – March 27, 2002) was a journalist and author of more than thirty books, nine of which were bestsellers. Stearn was born in Syracuse, New York to David Stearn, a rabbi. He graduated from Syracuse University and became a journalist for the New York Daily News and later an associate editor for Newsweek.

As an author, Stearn specialized in sensationalist speculative non-fiction. His early work focused on outsiders and marginalized individuals such as prostitutes, drug addicts, and the LGBT community. His later work focused on spirituality, the occult, and psychic phenomenon. His most popular works were two biographies on the American psychic Edgar Cayce; Stearn was a conference speaker for the Association for Research and Enlightenment and a proponent of Cayce's theories.

Stern was an old friend of game show panelist Arlene Francis. Her co-panelist Dorothy Kilgallen may have helped to promote Stearn's Yoga, Youth and Reincarnation in a September 15, 1965 issue of New York Journal American. Stearn and Francis co-authored a book on dreams after she mentioned her recurring dream.

Stearn was an active practitioner of yoga and weight lifting. He married twice and had two children, Martha and Fred. He died of congestive heart failure on March 27, 2002 in his Malibu, California home. He chose not to have a funeral because of his belief in reincarnation.