We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. – Oscar Wilde

I met Frank Andrews by way of his sister, Terry Iacuzzo. I interviewed Terry a few years ago, and was lucky enough to become friends with her. During a trip to New York this spring, Frank allowed us to walk through his home. I felt as if I were in a museum. From furniture of the 1820’s Europe, original artworks from Andy Warhol and Yoko Ono. An exorcism kit from Asia. It was true sensory overload, in the best way. As the stairs went up further and further, the amazement of seeing an actual Warhol got shoved aside by the original program of Alice in Wonderland, (1888 to 1889) in which one of his teachers performed.

The man himself was neatly dressed, gracious and was very welcoming to myself and my friends as we gawped at his home. We were even able to look at his original deck which was so faded you could barely make out the images. (I picked the Sun card!)

I’ve interviewed his sister Terry, and a few weeks ago, I got to interview their sister, Rosemary. All three siblings work or have worked as professional psychics in the past, and was lucky enough to talk with all of them. Frank is still reading in New York City, in that amazing house, in one of the most wonderful cities in the world.

As I’ve said before, tarot readers are tarot scholars – like it or not. You can learn so much from those who started reading before you. Frank has some books underway and we’ll be also able to see his story on screen. In the meantime, he was nice enough to fill out the questionnaire for us.

LFT Questionnaire

1. What you appreciate the most in your friends.
   What I appreciate the most is their understanding of me, and not putting pressure on me. And I don’t put pressure on them. If we cancel plans, no big deal.
2. Your idea of happiness.
   The absence of sorrow. We have to get rid of the tears, the sorrow, first. A millionaire might need another million dollars, a priest might want to save a soul, but if the sorrow is still there, they’ll never be happy. 
3. Your idea of misery.
   When people are stuck, like the Hanged Man, and they come to me looking for a way out but there is no exit. There is a play of that name, “No Exit” by Sartre. Three people in a room, no door, no window. They’re in hell. One of them looks up and says, “Hell is other people.”
4. Your favorite colors and flowers.
   My favorite colors are blue – like  in the portrait that Andy Warhol did of me. He asked what my favorite color was. I also love green because it’s healing. My favorite flower is a daffodil.
5. Your favorite poets.
   If you said favorite writer, that would be easier. Oscar Wilde and William Shakespeare.  My favorite line that Oscar Wilde said was “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
6. Your heroes/heroines in fiction.
   I would think that Robin Hood and the Wizard of Oz are my favorite fictional heroes.
7. What role does divination play in your life?
   Well, it is my life. I sit at my reading table nearly every day, and have done so for almost 55 years. It’s looking into other people’s lives rather than my own. Once I was asked by an Australian magazine what were the ten worst things about my life. The first worst thing is when I read for people and they don’t have a happy ending. When they are sick and there is no hope.
8. Your heroes/heroines in real life.
   Jiddu Krishnamurti was number one.  He was an amazing speaker. Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler all had wonderful ideas about the mind. 
9. What is your present state of mind?
   (Raucous laughter) Do I really have to answer that?
   Actually, right now, I’m at the happiest point I’ve been in a long time. Some wonderful things are going on. A TV Producer wants to make a tv series on my life – if it happens, great. If not, it’s ok. I’m happy to be in a win-win situation. I’m also working on a memoir. 
10. What is your favorite tarot deck or divination tool?
    Tarot is my favorite tool – and it is a deck that is no longer in production. The Swiss 1 JJ deck is my favorite deck. It’s very esoteric. It’s not the traditional pictures that we know. You have to pick the deck that talks to you and that works for you. You train your inner eye and the pictures that you see opens the door.
11. Your favorite songs?
    If I had to pick a modern singer I certainly love Adele. My favorite kind of music is opera or classical. I listen to Beethoven before bed.
12. What is your favorite word?
    Samadhi. It’s a Sanskrit word that means intense, effortless concentration. When one is doing a reading it becomes very intense but it must be effortless or else the reader takes on the problem in him or herself. If I were to answer the phone during a section and return and say where was I? All is lost. Reading is using a different part of the brain and it’s all about letting go. It could sound like I’m just talking but it’s a lot more than that.
13. What is your least favorite word?
    I don’t know if I have one, to be honest. It’s the right/left. The Up/down. The Sun/Moon. Even if it’s ‘bad’, that’s how you get to the ‘good’ 
14. What sound or noise do you love?
    In nature, I love running water. Of musical instruments, I would pick the cello.
15. What sound or noise do you hate?
    I wouldn’t use the word hate, but I don’t like fire engine sounds. It makes me flash on tragedy.
16. What turns you on?
    (Again with the giggles) Wonderful! It was BEAUTY that killed the beast, my dear, and you can quote me on that one.
17. What turns you off?
    Well, I was in a supermarket and this mother was yelling at her daughter, and the screaming that she did was awful. The poor girl was just shuddering. When someone yells at a child, they don’t get that it’s just a child.
18. What is your favorite curse word?
    Sonofabitch. Auntie Mame used to say that the world is a banquet but most sonofabitches are starving. The real Mame was named Marian Tanner, her nephew wrote the book about her. She lived at 72 Bank Street, quite a character. She’s the one who told me I was a psychic.

19. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?  
    I believe we die and come back . Some of us never get it right so we do it over and over an old soul to me means you have been around a long time. We are born smart but learn to be stupid. So, when i get to heaven, if  I do,  I’ll probably be lonely. All my friends are somewhere else. I’m sure somebody is going to say “What took you so long? 

Thank you, Frank, for your time!

xo Lis