Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer and Sally ”Hot Lips” Kellerman

Fifteen minutes before our podcast I learned that one of my closest pals on the planet had left the planet.   Sally was best friends with Luana Anders, they traipsed around Hollywood together, lived together, stayed best friends for both of their lives.  Sally's husband Jonathan Krane was my champion - produced three films that I directed, believed in me as no other person in Hollywood has.

He was John Travolta's manager.  He also ran a mini studio, pioneered a number of innovative ways of financing and making feature films.  He was behind hit films like "Look Who's Talking" and other John Travolta films.  

Sally was an oscar nominated actress (MASH) who worked often with Robert Altman, who was beloved by man - as noted in the podcast, dated Henry Kissinger.  She had three children - one was her sister's whom she adopted, Claire, and the other two were also adopted Hannah and Jack.  Of course the flipside research shows that people "seek out their parents" even when they're born to someone else.

It's unusual for me to do a podcast, so soon, without giving anyone the time to grieve. My apologies to those who feel that is the case. However, based on the research, I've learned that people who had dementia, as Sally did in her later years, are "already one foot out the door."  They literally leave a portion of their conscious energy behind to continue helping and healing others who take care of them. 

Sally was/is someone who gave of herself to her friends.  She was funny, witty, and I got to spend a year of lunches where I had her tape record her autobiography into a cassette player. The idea that having me ask her questions helped her recall events.  Another writer ghost wrote from those recordings her book "Hot Lips."  But I got a front row seat to some hilarious stories.

I mention two in this podcast.  

Suffice to say that a light in my life has left the building - but I do this podcast to show people how easy it is to contact their loved ones. It certainly helps to have someone as skilled as Jennifer to interpret what she's seeing... like seeing "Robert" and asking me if that referred to our friend Robert Towne, and me realizing she's hearing "Robert" because Altman was there to greet her.

Jennifer doesn't know anything about Sally's career, but I do. I'm going to miss her laughter, but I'm sure I'll be hearing more of it. Those who loved her will have their own memorials for Sally - and while this happened rather quickly, as you can see, I was born to ask questions about friends who are on the flipside.

And Jennifer, who works with law enforcement agencies daily on missing person cases, is generous enough to share her talents in this area.  It's an unusual way to present something - I know it - but this was an example I could not let slide.

The conference mentioned starts today, and tickets or the link is on my webpage RichMartini.com