Who Is This?

I expect to return to my duties as magic history blogger in a few days. I've had a very busy summer of performances and they will end in a couple days. Then I get a brief rest before the Fall rush kicks in.
I've posted a picture above of a gentleman. I wonder if there is anyone who can identify this individual? Please post your guesses in the comments sections. We'll see if anyone gets it. I'll leave you hints as we go along.....in the event no one guesses correctly.

Hint #1 He is very famous in the magic world for one thing.
Hint #2 Houdini knew him and so did Howard Thurston.
Hint #3 He has been on the cover of MAGIC & Genii Magazines.
No Guesses? Ok, more hints.

Hint#4 He was a Doctor.
Still no guesses? To be honest, I'd have no clue either, lol.
Hint #5 He was friend to Harry Kellar.
Hint #6 He did something that was written about in TIME magazine.

A Piece of Kellar & Houdini History

Norm Nielsen and Harry Kellar

The image above is a wonderful 8 sheet Kellar poster, now in the collection of Norm Nielsen. According to Lupe Nielsen, it may be the only 8 sheet Kellar poster of this image known to have survived. The incredible poster has quiet a story.

Apparently, this poster was a gift from Harry Kellar to Harry Houdini. The poster hung in the home of Houdini, 278 W 113th St NYC. The poster was originally mounted on linen and actually stayed in the house longer than Houdini.  In the 1980s, Dixie Dooley was in NYC and stopped by the old Houdini House. Unlike most visitors, he actually got permission to enter the home and was able to tour Houdini's old home. While on the tour, the owner showed Dixie a table full of posters and gave them to him as a gift. The above poster was among those he acquired and remained in his possession until he sold the large Kellar poster to Norm Nielsen in the 1990s.

According to Lupe, "no restorers wanted to touch it." So they placed it into a giant frame protected by a piece of Plexiglas in the front. It is now in the Nielsen Magic Poster Collection.  The poster was printed by Strobridge Litho, Cincinnati 1894.

*The photo credit belongs to Lee Alex (www.leealexmagic.com) who graciously gave me permission to reproduce it here. I also received permission from Lupe Nielsen to include it, as it is part of the private Nielsen Magic Poster Collection (www.nnmagic.com) By the way, Dixie Dooley talks about this poster in his book Exploits and also in Houdini Question Reality, two books he wrote available on Lulu.com.

All Things Magic Edit-a-thon for MagicPedia

On September 14th, 2013, MagicPedia will be hosting an event called 'All Things Magic' Edit-A-Thon 2013. It's basically a one day event where people from all over the globe can get together 'virtually' and help to update, add and edit content for the MagicPedia Wiki page.

A little known fact is that yours truly, the Magic Detective, quietly has added content to MagicPedia. And I'm not the only one by any stretch. If you are interested in helping, all you need is a computer of some kind and an internet connection. Some areas are having actual events at specified locations so you can check the link below for more information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/All_Things_Magic_Edit-a-thon_2013