Book Club

Join us on Thursday, May 7, at 6:30 pm, with the author Terry Iacuzzo, to discuss their book Small Mediums at Large.

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About the Book

The True Tale of a Family of Psychics

Take one part Alice in Wonderland, two quarts Federico Fellini, and a dash of Being John Malkovich, and one begins to glimpse the story of Terry Iacuzzo's life. Born on Halloween in 1948, she came into the world in Buffalo, New York, within a working-class Sicilian-American family. Surrounded by a mother, father, brother, and sister who all experienced visions, prophetic dreams, and shared a mischievous sense of humor, her life unfolded in ways both uncanny and deeply human. Small Mediums at Large tells this story.

“Psychic”—such a mystifying label for what, to her, felt entirely natural within the experience of a vision. It is difficult to imagine a time when this word was not widely known, yet in her childhood, no such label existed in Terry family’s vocabulary. She watched her father offer uncannily accurate betting tips to customers in his restaurant, and listened as her mother, seated at the kitchen table, casually predicted the outcomes of neighbors’ unfolding dramas. Neither recognized this as anything unusual. Terry and her siblings staged mock séances in the cellar, astonishing and sometimes frightening their playmates with messages that proved all too real. During long Buffalo winters, they entertained themselves by attempting to intensify falling snow through sheer concentration, honing what they believed were the powers of their minds.

As a young woman in the 1960s, Terry passed through Greenwich Village, and by the early 1970s, she immersed herself in the era’s exploration of psychedelics, sexuality, love, and identity. Driven by a desire to understand herself and her place in the world, Terry sought out mystics, mediums, and séances. Eventually, she established herself in a small apartment in Little Italy, where people from across the globe climbed six flights of stairs to seek her guidance. They arrived in search of direction, insight into future relationships, understanding of their suffering, and clarity about their lives. With heightened sensitivity and emotional openness, she navigated impressions of past, present, and future, helping others grasp both their possibilities and the consequences of their choices.

Each reading required her to step aside from her own life and immerse herself in the lives of others. In moments, images would arise; Terry would scan her physical sensations and emotions, orient herself within the vision, and translate the experience into meaning for the client. In Small Mediums at Large, she reflects on the richness of this process, inviting readers into the many adventures her boundless curiosity has inspired. From the deeply moving to the delightfully absurd, hers is a world in which meaning reveals itself through every detail she perceives.