We just received some rather sad news to report, as we can confirm that Peter Aykroyd, father of Dan Aykroyd, has passed away at the age of 98.

Peter, who was very open about his belief of the paranormal, is likely best remembered by Ghostbusters fans from his book A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Séances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters.

Dan worked alongside his father on A History of Ghosts, writing the foreword for the book along with providing insight on how his family shaped him creatively:

“My father, as a child, witnessed seance and kept the family books on the subject. My brother, Peter, and I read them avidly; and from all this, Ghostbusters got made. …”

In an interview with the National Post back in 2009, both Peter and Dan talked about the original Ghostbusters film, saying:

“In defense of reality, the scene in the beginning, when the books start coming off the shelves, that’s an exhibition of the poltergeist phenomenon and is very common. That scene resonated 100% factually. The bad scene was the one with the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man,” Peter said. In response, Dan quickly chimed in with “You didn’t like that.” Peter responded “No, no I didn’t, and you and Murray and whoever else said you were going to change it.”

In addition to his love of the paranormal, Peter had a history as a civil servant, working alongside the Canadian government. He also spearheaded several campaigns throughout the years, including establishing the Northern Recycling Group and helping to launch the Community Foundation of Kingston and Area.

For more information on Peter’s life, we’d recommend reading Jack Chiang’s article over on TheWhig.com. Chiang knew Peter for more than 30 years, providing insight into his accomplishments and success as a civil servant.

Our thoughts are with the entire Aykroyd family at this time.