Does Oliver Stone believe in ghosts? You betcha.

"I can’t think of anything that is more important than the pursuit of truth, even if you have to wade through blood and dirt to get to it, even if pursuing it requires sacrifice and effort,” writes acclaimed director Oliver Stone in “One Can Make a Difference,” the new book by PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk.

The “W.” director continues: “Some people believe we should let the ghosts rest and that we shouldn’t show the blood and guts of reality, but I disagree. Everyone who watches films such as mine is strong enough to take something from the bad energy as well as the good. As for ghosts, I believe in them: They have important stories to tell if we’ll just listen.”

“One Can Make a Difference” is a compilation of more than 50 provocative essays by a diverse group of people, including Oliver Stone, Sir Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Helen Thomas, Petra Nemcova, Moby and Kevin Bacon.

The book also features essays by unknowns, such as a college student who retrieves coins stuck behind dorm-room sofas and donates the coins to charity, the woman who founded the first dog park in the U.S., a shop owner who collects old shoes for children in South American villages.

Newkirk writes, "I hope this book illustrates (a) that even those we admire from afar invariably face obstacles and have to find ways to keep their belief alive and (b) that you don't have to be a household name to make a difference … you just need to have conviction."

Newkirk will be signing copies at 7:30 Wednesday night at Sky Light Books in Los Feliz.

Photo: Oliver Stone at a Global Green event this year.
WireImage