I was surprised that the story of Patience Worth didn't already have a thread here!
The story is that in the early 20th century, a woman in St. Louis named Pearl Curran was dabbling with a Ouija board with some friends, and a spirit named Patience Worth supposedly came through. She claimed to have lived in 17th-century England. And over time, through Pearl and the Ouija board, Patience "dictated" poems and stories and eventually a few full-length novels.
This site has a good overview:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/pearl.htmlEvidently Pearl did not have the kind of education or knowledge that would have been required to have written all these things, but nobody has ever been able to verify the existence of Patience Worth anywhere.
I actually bought one of the novels that came out of this sessions, called A Sorry Tale. It's a very long read, but it's interesting, and I find the whole Patience/Pearl thing very intriguing. Still not sure what I really think.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this one?