Michelle Smith (author)
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Michelle Smith (born September 27, 1949; maiden name Proby) is a Canadian author.
Smith was born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia. As a child, Smith attended St. Margarets private school in Victoria from 1955 to 1964. Smith then moved on to St. Ann's Academy (another private school) where she graduated from in 1967. Smith then attended University where she studied psychology.
In the early to mid 1970s Smith was married to her first husband Doug Smith with whom she had one child (Tertia).
Smith's steps to notoriety began when she met psychiatrist Dr. Lawrence Pazder after being referred to him for psychiatric treatment in 1973. In 1976 when Dr. 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. With the help of Dr. Pazder, Smith eventually recovered memories of alleged Satanic ritual abuse that had occurred against her in the 1950s at the hands of her parents (Virginia and Jack Proby) and others in Victoria. Smith would eventually spend many hours with Dr. Pazder recalling her alleged memories of Satanic ritual abuse. Dr. Pazder eventually diagnosed Smith with Multiple Personality Disorder. As part of Dr. Pazder's treatment, Smith converted to Catholicism and took part in an exorcism. Smith (along with Dr. Pazder) also took the claims to the Vatican for official sanction. The chronicles of her recovered memories and therapy with Dr. Pazder were detailed in the book Michelle Remembers that she co-authored with Dr. Pazder. This book was published in 1980 and was the first alleged survivor account of Satanic ritual abuse.
During the writing of Michelle Remembers (the late 1970s), Smith divorced her first husband to marry Dr. Pazder (who had also divorced his spouse).
After the publication of Michelle Remembers, Smith appeared on talk shows with Dr. Pazder to discuss her alleged experiences. When Dr. Pazder was called in as a consultant on high profile Satanic ritual abuse cases, Smith was brought in to assist; for example, Smith acted as a counsellor for children allegedly abused in the McMartin Preschool case.
Ultimately, the claims made in Michelle Remembers were rejected by the Catholic Church. Subsqeuent investigations into the claims also found no evidence to support them. When investigations started to question the validity of the claims made in Michelle Remembers, Smith stopped giving interviews. In a 1990 investigation by The Mail on Sunday, Dr. Pazder would not allow Smith to be questioned. When asked by The Mail on Sunday "Does it matter if it was true, or is the fact that Michelle believed it happened to her the most important thing?", Dr. Pazder replied: "Yes, that's right. ... For her it was very real. ... We are all eager to prove or disprove what happened, but in the end it doesn't matter."
Smith still lives in Victoria. She has two sisters (Tertia and Charyl), a half brother Richard Lyons and a daughter Tertia Ackinclose who all live in BC.
