The Spell Book Blog

The Museletter , produced by the McBride Magic & Mystery School, is featuring an article I wrote entitled "Discovering the Athenaeum". It is my homage to the wonders of the Mystery School library. It's one of my favorite places on the planet. If you've been there, you'll get it right away. If you never have, you will marvel at this gem. And if you're going, this will help you plan to make the most of it. Take a look when you have a moment. For another one of my Muse

Koran the Mystic with President Herbert Hoover   It all started with the acquisition of this unusual souvenir card, and quickly became one of my favorite tales of magic history. Posing next to President Herbert Hoover (right) is Koran the Mystic  (b. William Perry Taylor), a vaudeville-era mindreader. (In case you have any doubt, Koran is the one in the superimposed fake turban.) Koran claimed to be the first (and only) man of mystery to be photographed at the White House dur

Report on the 5th Florida Magic History Conference

The phone rang. "What do you know about the Astounding Velma?" asked Sterling Lee, one of my running buddies for all things magical. I...