New Houdini Book Debuts Nov 22

The book is called Masters of Mystery: The Strange Friendship of Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini and it's set for release from Palgrave Macmillan on Tuesday, November 22. This is the same book that was released in the UK in October. The book is written by Christopher Sanford, who in the past has penned biographies on Kurt Cobain, Steve McQueen, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen and Roman Polanski.

According to John Cox over at WildaboutHoudini.com Christopher Sandford will be signing copies of his new book, Masters of Mystery: The Strange Friendship of Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini, at Books Inc. in Berkeley, California, on Monday, December 5, 2011 at 7:00pm. So if you are in the area, you'll want to go by and get your book signed by the author!

You can pre-order the book right now on Amazon.com. It's available in hardcover and a Kindle edition.  By the way, the UK version of the book has a slightly different title and cover. See below.

 

I wrote a very short blog on the hotel where Conan Doyle and Houdini had their final seance, you can see that here: http://deancarnegie.blogspot.com/2010/11/1922-atlantic-city.html 

Ken Klosterman Interview on MagicNewswire

Recently, Potter and Potter Auctions had an auction of some of the items from Ken Klosterman's Salon De Magie. I have visited the Salon De Magie, as well as his second less known location. It's one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had related to magic. I was there with friends, Mark Daniel and David Kaye and we spent the entire day and evening with Ken. Truly one great guy.

The Magic Newswire, another of my favorite online resources, did an interview with Ken as a prelude to the auction. Even though the auction has passed, the interview is well worth listening to. I was personally intrigued with his information regarding the Robert Houdin Crystal Casket and it's true authenticity.

Please take some time to listen to the interview. It's available in multiple formats and I typically listen on my iphone while I'm driving. Great stuff!

By the way, The Salon De Magie is still around, Ken only sold off a very small portion. According to the interview, he is STILL COLLECTING!

How Margery Outdid Houdini

Yes, believe it or not, Margery the Medium did outdo Houdini, but not in the way you might be thinking. Houdini died on Halloween Oct 31, 1926 at the age of 52. It turns out that Margery lived to be one year and one day longer in age. Let me explain. She died on November 1st, 1941, she was 53. So that makes her one year older than Houdini was when he died and she stayed around one extra day, dying on the day after Halloween ( I'm taking a bit of artistic license with the math)

Margery is an interesting character. I'm still waiting on the book Witch of Lime Street, that John Cox first let us all know about.  There is something terribly fishy going on between her and Houdini, in my opinion and I'd like to find out more.

Now if you'd like to hear about Margery from the side of the Spiritualists, below are two videos of Leonard Spicer, a Canadian Medium who is lecturing on Margery. Houdini-files will recognize the errors in statements, though there aren't many. I'm not agreeing with this fellow, I just thought you might enjoy hearing what the other side says about Margery.

To read more about Margery, take a look at my previous blogs:
Margery and the Bell Box(s)
Houdini Didn't End Margery's Career
Margery-medium-Cemetery