REVIEW:   ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CRYPTOZOOLOGY
                                            Jon-Erik Beckjord, BA,MBA, active cryptozoologist

The Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology, Michael Newton, 584 pages, 356 photos and drawings. Isbn 0-7864-2036-7  yr 2005.
McFarland and co, NC.

This is a mixed review with things to praise and things to criticize. Such a review is best by a professional cryptozoologist,
rather than an armchair editor. I have to give the book an A for the sheer number of entries of cz alleged beings,
but a B for the quality of the entries on those, and a D for the write-ups on reseachers.

Of coure I am in the book, and in fact, have the largest amount of text about myself. Sadly, the author, who is not a researcher,
and has written a number of "encyclopedias" of this and that, such as the FBI Encyclopedia, is getting his info from the Internet
and probably via Google, and does seem to understand that any ten year old can create a web page and get listed with search
engines. Very few webmasters in the CZ area have any education whatever, and 99% have no CZ field experience at all. Many have
gross biases  and Newton swallows them all, hook, line and sinker.

Examples: Loren Coleman is treated as a hero and a major cryptozoologist, because Coleman says he is. Yet, he has accomplished
nothing except  to put out ten or more very bad books, and to steal 17 photos from another CZer, and sell them illegally, in violation
of Federal Copyright law, to several tv shows, three times, even after getting caught by the owner. Richard Greenwell, a man with
no education outside of high school, is listed as being a member of all sorts of clubs and groups, as if this meant anything, and it is
not mentioned that his own group, the International Society of Cryptozoology, was always behind  at least two years in all of its
publications, edited by Greenwell, and that he, with Board Member Grover Krantz, voted to ban any applicants for membership
that held paranormal views on CZ. It is not mentioned that he, like Coleman, made no major discoveries on the major "cryptids"
in his 20 + years of being the "Secretariat".  Lake monster hunter Jan Sundberg is never revealed for his many email threats to
other CZers,  his lame attempts to sell photos of waves to the media for money to buy gasoline for his boat, and his failure to find
anything of value. In my own case,  despite 30 years of research, one film of Nessie,(praised highly by Dr. Jack Gibson, co-chair
of the 1987 ISC convention), one set of 8 stills of Nessie, acting as middleman for blood and hair for Bigfoot
to scientists, 25 year analysis of the Patterson-Gimlin Film of Bigfoot, and the taking of 15 + photos of Bigfoot (not seen at the time)
Newton can only dredge up the worst of accusations by non-researchers that ridicule my attempts to make suggestions as to how to
stop terrorist hijackings of planes, that have absolutely nothing to do with cryptozoology. He lists some errors and failures, and none of
the successes. There is an obvious ax to grind, and he grinds it.

However, on balance, the book is worth having for some of the articles on cryptozoological alleged beings, none of which, as Newton
ignores, has ever been verified (the major ones) with a single bone nor tooth, in 1406 years. Just ignore the items on researchers.
 

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