Alvin H. Lawson

Dr. Lawson was born and educated in Northern California where he received his BA in 1952 from University of California, Berkeley, and his MA (1958) and Ph.D (1967) degrees from Stanford University in English. Dr. Lawson was an English Professor at California State University, Long Beach, for more than thirty years where he taught, in addition to Children’s Literature and American Literature, an unusual course he originated, “UFO Literature: The Rhetoric of the Unknown” developed in response to the 1960’s call for more relevance in higher education. This course development resulted from the aftermath of the 1973 UFO flap. Student interest was high when first offered in the fall of 1974 and for ten years after. Dr. Lawson operated a UFO hotline for researching caller’s claims of abductions which led him to work with Dr. W.C. McCall to carry out more in-depth research. They carried out the 1977 Hypnosis of Imaginary Abductees study, which found that imaginary and real abductions narratives are indistinguishable. Dr. Lawson also formulated the Birth Memories Hypothesis, which argues that abductions are non-physical, archetypal fantasies in which the witness’s birth memories play a central role, thus first identifying the relationship between an individual’s birth trauma and their UFO abductions claims.

Dr. Lawson is survived by his wife, Barbara, of over 55 years, daughter, Leslie, son-in-law Richard Dirgo and four grandchildren. Resident of West Garden Grove, California, since 1964 and retired from teaching since 1995. Please make (tax deductable) donations in lieu of flowers and gifts to www.poetryfoundation.org in Dr. Alvin H. Lawson’s honor.

Arrangements under the direction of Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary FD1176, Corona Del Mar, CA.