Publisher: Whitley Heights Publishing

ISBN: 978-0-9833436-0-8

Unless you are a movie buff, people of our generation probably never heard of Rudolph Valentino- the Hollywood movie icon of silent pictures in the early 1920s. Unfortunately, Valentino died suddenly in 1926 at the young age of thirty-one touching off mass hysteria among his thousands of female fans. Those familiar with some of his movies would immediately associate him with Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, one of the highest-grossing silent films.

Wayne Hatford in his Valentino Speaks: The Wisdom of Rudolph Valentino appeals to his readers to believe that the dead can and do communicate with us all the time. He goes on to acknowledge that we may react to what he has to say in any way we want, however, the only thing he asks is that we keep an open mind. And that I did.

Hatford is a very strong advocate of automatic writing or psychography, which is writing where the writer alleges that it is emanates from a subconscious and/or spiritual source without conscious awareness of the content. According to Hatford, in 2004' he had experienced a number of coincidences that were all related to Valentino, such as photos, books, videos and unexpected connections. His biggest surprise was his strong desire to try to connect to Valentino through automatic writing, and he contends that he did in fact succeed in establishing contact. The result was that he was able to effectively align their energies for the purpose of writing Valentino Speaks and eventually producing sixty automatic writing sessions that formed the basis of his book.

It should be pointed out, as Hatford mentions, that it has been well-documented that since his death Valentino has had a history of speaking through others, most notably in the role of a metaphysical teacher. We also learn from Hatford that the reason Valentino communicates from beyond in this manner is that he wishes to share with us what he had learned, an expression of love.

The upshot of all this is Valentino Speaks: The Wisdom of Rudolph Valentino that can be described as a big box of the most delectable candies that cover topics rich with sage advice, wit and emotion that need to be slowly digested to reap maximum benefits. As Hatford succinctly states: “Rudolph Valentino's gift here is to offer us pearls of wisdom, or as some might put it, an invitation to tango with a master dancer.” In addition, each essay or musing is not intended to be the last word on the subject matter, but rather food for thought or a jumping-off point for further exploration and discussion.

Divided into one hundred and eighty vignettes, the book showcases excellent writing dealing with a wide variety of topics as love, sex, God, education, family, fear, healing, health, fun, home, hope, hugs, and many more that have never been explored before through this type of lens. Assembling a collection of such a mixed bag of reflective thoughts is not an easy feat and the stakes are quite high, particularly when you strive to rise beyond the trap of banality or shallowness. However, Hatford pulls it off with considerable aplomb and without even being frivolous. In addition, one of the most obvious strengths of this book is the comprehensive nature of its individual selections that are extremely strong, refreshing and brief, that no doubt can easily serve as effective prescriptions in helping us take control of our lives and deal with the many challenges we all have to face.

For example, when writing about the topic of travel, we are told that each trip is unique and a challenge, as it forces us to step out of our comfort zone, something that is always desirable. “Whenever we are willing to do that, we are likely to create full cracks in our well-crafted facades, in some sense furthering our evolution. The soul is greatly nourished by any kind of travel-if for no other reason than it always changes our tune.” How about the opening lines of the vignette concerning books: “Good books are like our dearest friends. They never become too familiar,” or the contribution concerning Confidence, where we read: “To be fully confident, you must trust in yourself and your abilities. Self-undoing is the anti-confidence pill. Establishing a sense of confidence requires knowing what you are all about while at the same time respecting who you are.”

As with most collections of this nature, not all of the material herein contained will appeal to each reader, but there is something in this collection for everyone. As Hatford asserts in his introduction, “Take the information offered here as one soul entity's point of view, keeping in mind that you are the final arbiter of what is true for you.” And even if you don't believe in auto writing or that Hatford had communicated with Valentino, he has nevertheless put together an engaging and inspirational tome-one that will likely lead you to ponder over long after the book has been put to rest.

Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With Wayne Hatford