Лоренс Паздер: Психиатр және «Мишель Еске алады» авторы

Canadian psychiatrist and author

Lawrence Pazder (April 30, 1936 – March 5, 2004) was a Canadian psychiatrist and author. Pazder wrote the discredited biography, Michelle Remembers, published in 1980, with his patient (and eventual wife) Michelle Smith, which claimed to detail satanic ritual abuse.

Pazder was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on April 30, 1936, and completed his undergraduate medical training at the University of Alberta in 1961. He received a diploma in tropical medicine from the University of Liverpool in 1962, Pazder returned to Canada in 1964 and completed his psychiatric training at McGill University in 1968. Pazder and his first wife Marylyn had four children together and were married for many years, until he developed a relationship with his patient Michelle Smith. Court documents filed in the divorce proceedings indicated that between March 1977 and June 1979 Pazder disappeared with Smith (co author of Michelle Remembers) for lengthy periods of time. In 1976 when Pazder was treating Smith for depression (related to her having had a miscarriage), Smith confided she felt that she had something important to tell him, but could not remember what it was. As Pazder believed he was on the verge of uncovering a vast satanic conspiracy, he eventually would spend many hours at a time treating Smith during a 14 month period. After the publication of Michelle Remembers, Pazder was considered to be an expert for the topic of satanic ritual abuse. In the report titled "The Devil Worshippers", Pazder discussed the clues that he felt indicated satanic practices. Pazder claimed that "The pure group of 'orthodox satanists' is never seen or identified in public, yet it is this group of invisible satanists who plant the seeds and encourage all the more visible satanic groups". Further investigations into the allegations made in Michelle Remembers found no evidence to support them and satanic ritual abuse is considered to be a moral panic.