Joe thought the idea of a biography of him to be an hilarious idea, so there is a paucity of information about his life, despite the fact that he influenced the lives of thousands. In the original edition of The Power of the Mind, the publishers included the following:

‘Joe Keeton was born in Derbyshire. He has devoted most of his adult life to the development of his skill as a hypnotherapist. He has worked as a soldier, a catering manager, a taxi-driver, an electrician, a college lecturer and a photographer to finance his pioneering work into regression and healing through hypnosis.’

In his 1979 book with historian Peter Moss, the jacket blurb says:

‘Joe Keeton discovered his hypnotic abilities when very young, though he did not take them seriously until many years later. Over a period of twenty-five years, he has conducted 8,000 regressions. For several years, he has lectured on Extra-Sensory Perception for Liverpool Education Committee and although the sheer volume of people wishing to participate in regressive hypnosis forced him to give up his course, he still lectures extensively on his techniques and has made a number of television appearances. He charges no fee for conducting hypnotic regressions as he feels that any other approach would be open to serious exploitation. Joe Keeton is employed as catering manager at the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo. He is married to journalist Monica O’Hara and lives on the Wirral Peninsula.’

He and Monica lived in Meols, Wirral. Monica provided a little more information recently. Joe was born in Clay Cross, Derbyshire, and spent a bit of time at Rugby School before he was expelled for causing an explosion in the chemistry lab. Apparently the teacher refused to explain something or other to him in class, so he waited until lights out in the dorm, then crept down to carry out his own experiment, as a result of which he suffered extensive (and lifelong) injuries to one of his arms (always discreetly hidden under a shirt/sweater).

I will add to this biographical section as I find out more. Do please email me any further information you have.