Curtis Howe Springer

Curtis Howe Springer ( born December 2, 1896 in Birmingham, Alabama; † August 19, 1985 in Las Vegas, Nevada) was an American impostor who made a radio preacher and healer career. Best known it was founded by him spa Zzyzx.

Biography

Little is known about the early years of 1896 in Birmingham, Alabama, born Curtis Howe Springer. He probably served in the U.S. Army and was for politicians (such as William Jennings Bryan ) and preachers (about Billy Sunday ) operates. Springer was married twice and had several children.

In the 1930s, Springer stepped through public lectures in the Midwestern United States in appearance, in which he adorned himself with false academic titles and obscure panacea offered for sale. He had his own shows at various radio stations and published his messages in printed form. In his lectures, broadcasts and publications, he combined religious and medical issues to promote his miracle cures and to collect donations.

In 1935 the American Medical Association an investigative report in the Springer was unmasked as a fraud.

1931 Springer had his first spa in Maple Glen, Pennsylvania opened, which went bankrupt after six years because of outstanding tax debts. Further attempts to provide miracle cures at a fixed location, also failed. In 1944, he acquired mining rights in the middle of the Mojave Desert. The site was a former army post and holding station of the abandoned " Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad " of Ludlow in California to Beatty, Nevada.

Springer was the place that was previously known as "Soda Springs ", the name of Zzyzx. Over time, a complete resort with a spa (including hot springs, whose water was heated but artificial), hotel, church, radio station, airfield, an artificial lake and other buildings arose. Springer preached from here on the radio and marketed numerous miracles and cures.

In the late 1960s a case against Springer was initiated after he had started to open to donations to private land development. He had acquired mining rights, however, was not the owner of the property. Springer and his followers had to leave Zzyzx. 1976 desert research center was established in the buildings.

As a consequence, Springer was sentenced to several months in prison for fraudulent advertising. The rest of his life spent Springer in Las Vegas, where he died at the age of 88 years in 1985.