I had a chance to visit with my favorite psychic friend Irene Hughes, 88, and her husband Bill, 93, last week and catch up with everything that's new and exciting not only in their lives, but also what's in store for the lives of others.

I stopped by to see the couple (married 62 years!) at their beautiful home in Crete, and take them some fresh-picked apples and one of my father's homemade birdhouses.

Irene is as busy as ever with readings and consultations, especially this time of year, when there are so many things happening as the start of a new year rapidly approaches.

It's always easy to spot when Irene is driving in the area. The custom vanity plates on her car read "ESP."

Irene, whose famous clients over the years have included Merv Griffin, Eva Gabor and Howard Hughes, has finally started to write her memoirs and she has several chapters completed, which she allowed me to have a sneek peak at.

They are nothing short of amazing.

There's a reason she's been dubbed "America's most accurate psychic."

She first saw her rise to fame with predictions during the late 1960s and early '70s:

* In 1966, she twice predicted the Middle East problems that escalated in 1967.

* She named The St. Louis Cardinals as the 1967 World Series winners.

* Skeptics and television comedians joked when she foretold of an earthquake shaking a wide band from St. Louis to the state lines between Kentucky and Tennessee between Nov. 9 and Nov. 11, 1967. Strong tremors rumbled through the exact region on Nov. 9, 1967.

* On Jan. 31, 1968, she predicted then-President Lyndon B. Johnson would announce his decision not to run for re-election. The president issued that same statement on television coast to coast on April 1, 1968.

* Hughes predicted as early as 1963 that Jacqueline Kennedy would remain widowed only for a short time before remarrying. She foresaw, "Jackie will marry a much older man than herself -- a sort of father image." She later married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.

* She astounded world leaders (who found it harsh and unprofessional) with the prediction North Vietnamese Premier Ho Chi Minh would die during the last week of August 1969. It happened just as she described, only one week later during the first days of September.

* In 1962, she wrote the exact date of Ambassador Adlai Stevenson's death: July 14, 1965.

I asked Irene about a few of the predictions she shared with my guests at a birthday tea party I hosted at a little tea room in Crete in August 2007.

At the time, she said that she saw a woman "close to power in the White House" who would be "in a leadership role" for the November 2008 presidential election, and then shocked everyone by saying that woman would NOT be Sen. Hilary Clinton.

She also predicted the Chicago Cubs would win the 2008 Pennant and she told me on Thursday, she's sticking to that prediction.

As for Sen. Barack Obama, she doesn't see him elected as the 44th President of the United States.

On the subject of Wall Street, Irene said the serious slump in the financial markets will continue through January. But on the upside, the housing market will finally find an upswing, with brisk home sales starting in February.

For more information about Irene Hughes and her services, call (708) 672-7090.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.

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