Ask Alexander 2.0 Beta!
Those of you who have logged in to Alexander recently may have noticed the new look and some new features. We are calling it Ask Alexander 2.0, and, although we are still working on many neat ideas, it is coming along nicely. The first thing you will notice is the new design which was elegantly [...]
Jim Bard Houdini Bust
A new piece of Houdini memorabilia has been kind enough to grace the library with its presence. It is a reproduction of a bust that Houdini gave to Jim Bard in the early 1900s which is quite striking. Since only two busts of Houdini are known to have survived, the Houdini-Bard and one sold at [...]
The Secret Life of Houdini
The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero By William Kalush and Larry Sloman Handcuff King. Escape Artist. International Superstar. Since his death eighty years ago, Harry Houdini’s life has been chronicled in books, in film, and on television. Now, in this groundbreaking biography, renowned magic expert William Kalush and best-selling writer [...]
Footnotes for The Secret Life of Houdni
Below are the links to our preliminary version of the footnotes to The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero. Please keep in mind that these are preliminary and to get the fully refined notes with annotations you should order the boxed set. The Oath (Draft v1.1) Updated 11/09/2006 Starving for a Living (Draft [...]
Who was Harry Houdini?
“Harry Houdini didn’t die in the Water Torture Cell. He didn’t have a mother fixation. And he wasn’t just a great showman. Eventually all legends get cluttered by apocryphal stories, and the legend of the greatest professional master of deception is no exception. Much of what has become his story is fabrication. Ironically, the real [...]
Was Houdini a Superman?
“Ehrich Weiss was born into poverty and cast into the world with an inadequate education and a great burden. This flawed mortal struggled, schemed, and persevered, transforming himself into Harry Houdini, America’s first international sensation by creating the idea that he could beat any possible restraint. The idea was so powerful that he became mythic—a [...]
Was Houdini a Spy?
In the late 1800s, a young Harry Houdini, though stunningly creative and clever, couldn’t make enough money to succeed at magic. Hungry and crestfallen, he was ready to give up his dream, until he walked into a Chicago police station and met a detective who would change his life. Immediately after this fateful encounter, he [...]
Was Houdini Murdered?
Only days before his death from peritonitis on October 31, 1926—the result of a ruptured appendix according to his doctors —Houdini was struck repeatedly in the abdomen, first by a “college student” during a dressing room visit, and then by a mysterious burly stranger while he was sitting, reading the newspaper in a Montreal hotel [...]
The Secret Life of Houdini, Laid Bare
The Secret Life of Houdini, Laid Bare: Available now from Mike Caveney’s Magic Words. A new collectors’ set that includes the footnotes to The Secret Life of Houdini. In this limited edition set you get a 1st printing, 1st edition of the biography with a special new color frontispiece signed and numbered by both authors and a [...]
Was Houdini a Crusader?
When America entered World War I, Houdini led the war efforts by magicians by example, giving away more than $7,000 (which today would be about $250,000). He also contributed money to build a hospital that was dedicated to his mother. Then he wrote to Secretary of War Newton Baker and offered to conduct classes in [...]
