Product Description

Have you ever looked at someone and thought:

He looks honest.

She seems friendly.

He doesn't look like a serial killer.

Are you always right?

Looks can be deceiving, but handwriting never lies. Handwriting profiling is an amazingly accurate tool for assessing how people think, feel, and act. In fact, handwriting profiling is so accurate that the FBI, the CIA, and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad use it to build detailed psychological profiles of some of the world's most dangerous individuals. And thousands of major corporations use handwriting profiling to help them make the right hiring decisions.

Handwriting expert Michelle Dresbold -- the only civilian to be invited to the United States Secret Service's Advanced Document Examination training program -- draws on her extensive experience helping law enforcement agencies around the country on cases involving kidnapping, arson, forgery, murder, embezzlement, and stalking to take us inside the mysterious world of crossed t's and dotted i's.

In Sex, Lies, and Handwriting, Dresbold explains how a single sentence can provide insight into a person's background, psychology, and behavior. Throughout the book, Dresbold explores the handwriting of sly politicians, convicted criminals, notorious killers, suspected cheats, and ordinary people who've written to Dresbold's "The Handwriting Doctor" column for help. She shows you how to identify the signs of a dirty rotten scoundrel and a lying, cheating, backstabbing lover. And she introduces you to some of the most dangerous traits in handwriting, including weapon-shaped letters, "shark's teeth," "club strokes," and "felon's claws." (When you see these traits in someone's script, she says, "it's time to stop reading and start running!")

Dresbold also explains how criminals are tracked through handwritten clues and what spouses, friends, or employees might be hiding in their script.

Finally, Dresbold re-examines the handwriting evidence in several notorious unsolved cases. She uncovers fascinating clues that reveal the secret side of Lizzie Borden, acquitted of the ax murder of her parents in 1893's "trial of the century." Dresbold also reveals astonishing details about the author of the JonBenÉt Ramsey ransom note, and she presents startling new evidence that exposes the real Jack the Ripper (contrary to popular theories, he wasn't a prince or a painter after all).

Sex, Lies, and Handwriting will have you paying a bit more attention to your -- and everyone else's -- penmanship.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #238071 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-12
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
When I first got a call from Commander Ronald Freeman, my heart started pounding. "Oh, no," I thought, "I knew I should have paid those darn parking tickets!" But Freeman didn't even mention the tickets. He said that he had heard through the grapevine that I could "read" people, and asked me to come in for a chat.

At division headquarters, Commander Freeman had a stack of old case files involving handwriting piled on his desk. For hours, he showed me suicide notes, confessions, threatening letters, and other writing, and asked me questions like: "Is this person male or female? How old? Is the writer violent? Suicidal? Honest or dishonest? Straight or gay? Sane or insane? Smart or stupid? Healthy or sick? Go-getter or lazy bum?" After every answer, he smiled. Although he never said so, this was a test.

I must have passed, because a few days later, I got my first assignment: To profile an UNSUB (police lingo for unidentified subject) from a bank robbery note.

"This is a stick up," the note said. "Put $50's, $20's, $10's in bag."

After scanning the note for a few minutes, I turned to the detective in charge of the case. "You're not gonna find this guy's prints in your files, because he probably never committed a crime before. He's not a hardcore criminal. Under normal circumstances, he'd never rob a bank. But he's feeling really desperate." The detective nodded his head politely, but I could tell that he was skeptical.

A few days later, the bank robber was in police custody. As I had predicted, he was not a hardened criminal. In fact, he had no previous arrest record. He was a 52-year-old bus driver who tearfully confessed that he needed money to pay for his son's liver transplant. "Without the operation my son will die," he said.

One day, a woman walking her dog on Aylesboro Avenue in Pittsburgh found a mysterious note on the sidewalk. Printed in purple crayon were the words: Ples rascu me. Thinking it could be a desperate plea for help, the woman brought the note to a police station.

The detectives wondered if the note was a hoax. It appeared to be the writing of a child, but was it? And did the writer really need to be rescued?

"It's not the writing of an adult pretending to be a child," I told the lead detective. "It was written by a girl between the ages of five and seven. And I see absolutely no signs of stress or danger in the handwriting, so the writer is definitely not a kidnap victim." Then I added, "It's signed Kealsey."

But who was Kealsey? And why did Kealsey write the note? We turned to the news media, hoping that someone might recognize the handwriting, or something in the note, that could help us unravel the mystery.

That night when I turned on the six o'clock news, a reporter was interviewing another handwriting analyst who proclaimed that he could tell from the handwriting that the note's author was in "grave danger."

"What if I'm wrong?" I thought.

The next morning, a man and his daughter walked into the police station. They had seen a photograph of the note in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 6-year-old daughter, Kealsey, timidly stated that she had written the message to her teddy bear. Her father explained that Kealsey often played detective with her teddy. Somehow the note must have blown out the window and landed on the sidewalk.

Copyright © 2006 by Michelle Dresbold and James Kwalwasser

Chapter One: Brainwriting 101

Handwriting can infallibly show whether it comes from a person who is noble-minded or from one who is vulgar.

Confucius

Have you ever looked at a person and thought:

He looks honest...

She seems friendly...

He doesn't look like a serial killer...

Are you always right?

The truth is, appearances can be deceiving, but handwriting never lies.

Handwriting analysis is an amazingly accurate tool. It reveals how a writer thinks, feels, and acts. In fact, handwriting analysis is so accurate that the FBI, CIA, and Mossad (Israel's intelligence agency) use it to build detailed psychological profiles of some of the world's most dangerous individuals.

Now, you may be thinking, "How is it possible to tell so much from handwriting? After all, handwriting comes from the hand, not the brain. Right?"

Wrong!!!

Actually, your hand plays a very minor role in handwriting. If you injured your hand and had to learn to write with a pen in your mouth or between your toes, eventually you would produce almost the same handwriting that you produced before your injury. However, if your brain were injured, you would lose much of your writing ability. It is your brain -- not your hand, foot, or mouth -- that decides the size, shape, and slant of your handwriting. Handwriting is really "brainwriting," and the marks you place on the paper are your "brain prints."

Reading and interpreting brain prints requires logic and knowledge. It takes many years of study and practice to become a top-notch handwriting profiler. However, I bet you'll be surprised to discover how much you already know about handwriting and personality.

To prove it, here's a little quiz. Below, you'll find six pairs of brain prints and questions about the writers. Answer the questions using your good old common sense.

Question 1. Look at the signatures of two men, both named Ted. Which Ted is the recluse, A or B?

Question 2. Here are handwriting samples of two famous artists. One is feeling upbeat, while the other is feeling down in the dumps. Which artist is feeling down, A or B?

Question 3. Which of these two politicians doesn't want you to be able to "read" him, A or B?

Question 4. Which one of these writers is more nurturing, A or B?

Question 5. Which of these writers holds back when it comes to expressing emotions, A or B?

Question 6. Which of these writers is the transvestite?

Ready to see how you did?

Answers to Brain Print Quiz

Question 1. Look at the signatures of two men, both named Ted. Which Ted is the recluse, A or B?

If you guessed B, bravo!

Yes, size does matter -- at least, when it comes to handwriting! Is a writer who signs his name in teeny-weeny letters someone who wants to be noticed? Or is he more likely to be the kind of guy who shrinks into the background? Very small handwriting, like that of B, means that the writer is an introvert.

On the other hand, nine times out of ten, large writers are extroverts. They like being around people, they like to talk, and when they talk, they use expansive hand gestures and exaggerated expressions.

The reclusive writer B is a former math professor who sent mail bombs to "stinking technophiles" and "oversocialized leftists" (as he described his enemies in a rambling manifesto), wounding twenty-three people and killing three. When he was arrested in April 1996, authorities found him living as a hermit in a one-room shack outside Lincoln, Montana. Writer B is the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

In the 1970s, writer A traveled across the country, posing as a graduate student. He often hung around college campuses, socializing, playing tennis, and murdering young women. Writer A was outgoing and liked to be around people. And he sure didn't like to be confined, twice escaping from jail. The large signature belongs to Ted Bundy.

Experiment

Try this experiment:

1. Get out a piece of paper and a pen.

2. Write your name very large.

3. Now, write it smaller.

4. Now, write it even smaller.

5. One last time, write it as teensy-weensy as you can.

Did you feel more restricted when you wrote your name large, or when you wrote it itsy-bitsy?

Question 2. Here are handwriting samples of two famous artists. One is feeling upbeat, while the other is feeling down in the dumps. Which artist is feeling down, A or B?

The answer is Artist A.

Reading people through their handwriting is a lot like reading body language. If you see a woman walking with her head down and her shoulders slouched, you can sense that she feels the weight of the world on her back. If you see a woman walking with her head held high, chin up, and a bounce in her step, you can sense that her mood is buoyant and bright.

Do you see how the handwriting of Artist A travels downhill? Downhill writing shows that the writer is feeling blue. His spirits are sinking. The uphill writing of Artist B indicates that he's feeling upbeat and energetic. His spirits are soaring.

Artist A, the downhill writer, sold only one painting in his lifetime. Sadly, he took his own life at the age of thirty-seven. Now, more than a hundred years later, his works are considered priceless, and he is revered as one of the greatest painters of all time. This downhill writer signed his paintings: Vincent.

The uphill writer, Artist B, was one of the most prolific and financially successful artists who ever put paint to a canvas. Productive well into his nineties, this uphill writer signed his works: Picasso.

Bonus Question

Here's a bonus question. For extra credit, let's test your understanding of relationship dynamics. Sally's handwriting slopes uphill. Sam's handwriting slopes downhill. Sally and Sam begin working together on a project. Day after day, they work side-by-side in a small office. Six months pass. How is their handwriting likely to change?

A. No changes. Sam's and Sally's handwriting will stay the same.

B. Sam's and Sally's handwriting will both become level.

C. Sam's handwriting will stay the same. Sally's handwriting will start to fall.

D. Sally's handwriting will stay the same and Sam's handwriting will begin to rise.

If you guessed C, give yourself a star. It's far easier to pull someone down than push someone up. Anyone who's been married to a downhill writer for any length of time will know what I mean.So if you happen to work or live with a downhill writer, watch out for changes in your own writing -- and if you see a chan...