1. Perry DeAngelis is best known for co-hosting the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast, which he helped found.
27 Facts About Perry DeAngelis
1. 2.
Perry DeAngelis was co-founder and executive director of the New England Skeptical Society, and was very active in the skeptical movement and paranormal investigations until his death from scleroderma in 2007.
3.
Perry DeAngelis posthumously contributed to a book, The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, released in 2018.
4.
Perry DeAngelis was born in 1963 to parents Lawrence and Marie Cook Perry DeAngelis in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
5.
Perry DeAngelis had an older sister, Marie and brother Derald, and a younger sister Celeste.
6.
Friend Evan Bernstein remembers that Perry DeAngelis would wear scrubs and rubber gloves to the races, and stand on the top of the car to get the audience riled up.
7.
Perry DeAngelis graduated from Joel Barlow High School and attended New York University.
8.
Perry DeAngelis was reading through the list of local groups, and commented to Steve: 'There's no local skeptics group in Connecticut.
9.
Perry DeAngelis stood up in the audience spread his arms and said "Drain Me".
10.
Perry DeAngelis later stated "I had my doubts she could drain a sink".
11.
Perry DeAngelis was instrumental in getting the podcast started and is credited with coming up with the name.
12.
Perry DeAngelis took his involvement with the podcast so seriously that during the two weeks before his passing, he recorded his Skeptical Quote segment via phone from his hospital room.
13.
Perry DeAngelis participated in most of the first 108 episodes.
14.
Perry DeAngelis took his involvement seriously and during the two weeks before his passing, he recorded his Skeptical Quote segment via phone from his hospital room.
15.
Perry DeAngelis was a big history buff and was particularly interested in The Civil War and World War II.
16.
Perry DeAngelis collected books, hats, banners and all kinds of memorabilia.
17.
Perry DeAngelis was a sports fan, particularly baseball, and was a "long suffering Yankees fan", as friend Evan Bernstein puts it.
18.
Perry DeAngelis was "dramatic" and "didn't sweat the small details," as Steven Novella puts it.
19.
Novella remembers that one big idea Perry DeAngelis had was to put up a really large canvas over 5th Avenue in New York, and letting cars pass under it and paint with brushes or throw paint at it, "this was the biggest most ridiculous art project he could think of".
20.
Perry DeAngelis's wife, Terry Wegener DeAngelis, was a Jehovah's Witness.
21.
One thing that I think reflects that that I don't think many of our listeners know is that Perry DeAngelis's wife is a Jehovah's Witness.
22.
Perry DeAngelis recalls a brief visit from his mother and his sister, but then his kidneys started to shut down and his breathing became labored which caused carbon dioxide to build up in his blood.
23.
Perry DeAngelis remembers looking at the nurse and realizing that she was an alien and that he had been taken to a secret part of the hospital.
24.
Perry DeAngelis did have type 2 diabetes, and he was diagnosed with scleroderma in 1997.
25.
Perry DeAngelis had had many heart attacks over the last few years and was hospitalized many times.
26.
Perry DeAngelis had just finished dinner and was having trouble breathing.
27.
Perry DeAngelis made his opinions known and actually delighted in not sugar-coating them.