If a house was haunted, Elizabeth Parkinson Hoffman wanted to know about it.
Hoffman, a retired librarian, published several books on the paranormal. Her book, “In Search of Ghosts” focused on the haunted places she found in the Delaware Valley.
“Here a Ghost, There a Ghost” shared the story of an apartment in New York City that housed the spirit of an old, unkempt man. Those who lived in the unit after his death said they smelled his dirty feet and felt someone watching them.
“This House Is Haunted!” told about the ghosts who haunted her own house in Havertown, Penn. When she and her husband, James W. Hoffman, purchased the home, they saw empty chairs rock by themselves and the shade of the former owner.
“I write books to encourage children to read. No one wants to read about broccoli. I want to write about what kids read,” Hoffman once said.
Hoffman graduated with a master’s degree in library science from Drexel University in 1961. She served as the chairwoman of the division of libraries for the Pennsylvania Department of Education for a decade, then spent another 16 years working as the director of the Haverford Township Free Library.
Hoffman died on July 16 in her haunted home. She was 82.