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THE CURIOUS NARRATIVE DESCRIBING THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE LEADING EXPONENT OF SPIRITUALISM AND HIS FOREMOST OPPONENT HARRY HOUDINI spent the last years of his life in a crusade against fake spirit mediums. He wanted to believe in spiritualism, but he could not. Conan Doyle devoted to the cause of spiritualism all the money and fame he got out of Sherlock Holmes; he cared more about spiritualism than about anything else in the world. These men had diametrically opposite views on the subject which meant most to them; yet they were friends and mutual admirers, and they kept up for many months the correspondence on which this book is based. They wrote mostly about the subject nearest their hearts. Doyle arranged settings with mediums for Houdini; Houdini took Doyle to banquets of the Society of American Magicians; Doyle thought Houdini did his tricks by supernatural power; the magicians were puzzled by the movies of prehistoric monsters in Doyle’s Lost World. Finally, Lady Doyle, Sir Arthur’s wife, got a “message” in “automatic writing” from Houdini’s mother. It was only when Houdini found himself unable to the believe in the reality of this message (though he had no doubt of Lady Doyle’s sincerity) that a break did come. Shortly after, Houdini died; Doyle followed soon. Perhaps they have become intimate again; who knows? This story of their friendship is told by Bernard M. L. Ernst, Houdini’s attorney and close friend, past president of the Society of American Magicians, and Hereward Carrington, well-known as a leading psychic investigator, author of The Story of Psychic Science, and friend of both Doyle and Houdini.
In 1916 Arthur Conan Doyle stated his belief in Spiritualism. "The Edge of the Unknown", first published in 1930, is a collection of articles covering various aspects of this subject.
History comes alive in this textured account of the rivalry between Harry Houdini and the so-called Witch of Lime Street, whose iconic lives intersected at a time when science was on the verge of embracing the paranormal. The 1920s are famous as the golden age of jazz and glamour, but it was also an era of fevered yearning for communion with the spirit world, after the loss of tens of millions in the First World War and the Spanish-flu epidemic. A desperate search for reunion with dead loved ones precipitated a tidal wave of self-proclaimed psychics—and, as reputable media sought stories on occult phenomena, mediums became celebrities. Against this backdrop, in 1924, the pretty wife of a distinguished Boston surgeon came to embody the raging national debate over Spiritualism, a movement devoted to communication with the dead. Reporters dubbed her the blonde Witch of Lime Street, but she was known to her followers simply as Margery. Her most vocal advocate was none other than Sherlock Holmes' creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who believed so thoroughly in Margery's powers that he urged her to enter a controversial contest, sponsored by Scientific American and offering a large cash prize to the first medium declared authentic by its impressive five-man investigative committee. Admired for both her exceptional charm and her dazzling effects, Margery was the best hope for the psychic practice to be empirically verified. Her supernatural gifts beguiled four of the judges. There was only one left to convince...the acclaimed escape artist, Harry Houdini. David Jaher's extraordinary debut culminates in the showdown between Houdini, a relentless unmasker of charlatans, and Margery, the nation's most credible spirit medium. The Witch of Lime Street, the first book to capture their electric public rivalry and the competition that brought them into each other’s orbit, returns us to an oft-mythologized era to deepen our understanding of its history, all while igniting our imagination and engaging with the timeless question: Is there life after death?
Here, two areas of mystery are linked: the exploits of Sherlock Holmes and the secrets of master escapologist, Harry Houdini. Doctor Watson's collaborator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, finds himself drawn into the world of the fake psychics and Houdini is anxious for Holmes to unmask the perpetrators who prey on the innocent believers. Holmes's investigations lead him to some surprising locations, including a Ruritanian castle.
“Noyes makes history accessible and irresistible . . . Excellent.”* A century ago, the curious idea that spirits not only survive death but can be contacted on the “other side” was widespread. Psychic mediums led countless séances, claiming to connect the grieving with their lost relations through everything from frenzied trance writing to sticky expulsions of ectoplasm. The craze caught Harry Houdini’s attention. Well-known by then as most renowned magician and escape artist, he began to investigate these spiritual phenomena. Are ghosts real? Can we communicate with them? Catch them in photographs? Or are all mediums “flim-flammers,” employing tricks and illusions like Houdini himself? Peopled with odd and fascinating characters, Houdini’s gripping quest will excite readers’ universal wonderment with life, death, and the possibility of the Beyond. *School Library Journal, starred review of Ten Days a Madwoman
Winner of the 1999 Edgar Award for Best Biographical Work, this is "an excellent biography of the man who created Sherlock Holmes" (David Walton, The New York Times Book Review) This fresh, compelling biography examines the extraordinary life and strange contrasts of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the struggling provincial doctor who became the most popular storyteller of his age. From his youthful exploits aboard a whaling ship to his often stormy friendships with such figures as Harry Houdini and George Bernard Shaw, Conan Doyle lived a life as gripping as one of his adventures. Exhaustively researched and elegantly written, Daniel Stashower's Teller of Tales sets aside many myths and misconceptions to present a vivid portrait of the man behind the legend of Baker Street, with a particular emphasis on the Psychic Crusade that dominated his final years--the work that Conan Doyle himself felt to be "the most important thing in the world."
Details the five-year friendship during which "Houdini and Conan Doyle exchanged views about Spiritualism; conducted investigations of notable mediums of their day, such as Mina 'Margery' Crandon; and even enjoyed vacationing together at Atlantic City."--Jacket.
REVEALING THE PERSONAL SECRETS OF HARRY HOUDINI WAS HE A CLOSET PSYCHIC? CLAIRVOYANT? OR MEDIUM? HIS LIFE LONG FRIEND SIR AUTHOR CONAN DOYAL INSISTED HE HAD THE EVIDENCE THAT THE WORLD'S GREATEST ESCAPE ARTIST WAS NOT THE SKEPTIC HE MADE HIMSELF OUT TO BE THE CREATOR OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ASKED? --WAS HOUDINI'S FANATICAL DEBUNKING OF PSYCHICS AND MEDIUMS A SUBTERFUGE TO CONCEAL HIS OWN REMARKABLE PARANORMAL ABILITIES? . . At his burial some curious and suggestive words were used by the presiding rabbi: -- "HOUDINI POSSESSED A WONDROUS POWER THAT HE NEVER UNDERSTOOD AND WHICH HE NEVER REVEALED TO ANYONE IN LIFE! . .The creator of Sherlock Holes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Harry Houdini were strange bedfellows. Doyle was a contemporary of the world's greatest magician and escape artist, who continually battled his friend over the legitimacy of life after death, and the reality of spiritualism. Doyle was a "true believer," while Houdini made it his "mission" to denounce just about all things preternatural. . . -- Doyle was convinced - from what he personally witnessed and what others confided to him - that Houdini could read minds, dematerialize, possessed supernatural strength, and was guided by angelic forces which shielded him from harm even during the most dangerous of escape performances which likely would have caused death to others. . . Doyle stated that Houdini had once remarked, "There are some of my feats which my own wife does not know the secret of." And a famous Chinese conjurer who had seen Houdini perform added, "This is not a trick, it is a gift." Sadly, many of Houdini's feats died with him, even though they would have been an invaluable asset. "What can cover all these facts," states Doyle, "save that there was some element in his power which was peculiar to himself, that could only point to a psychic element -- in a word, that he was a medium." . . . -- Here is both sides of the story -- in the actual words of the famed Sherlock Holmes originator and Houdini himself, who went out of his way to create the impression that fakes and phonies were afoot everywhere in the "shady world" of table tapping, levitating trumpets, spirit photography, slate writing, as well as the materialization of ectoplasmic forms in the darkening shadows of the seance room.
. . . Polidoro has written--and written well--a saga of two Titans that is also a remarkable exploration of both superstition and obsession, at the lush twilight of the Edwardian era.--Baltimore SunThis is the story of an unusual friendship between two of the most intriguing characters of the early 20th century-renowned escape artist Harry Houdini and celebrated mystery writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes). Both men were fascinated by the occult practice of spiritualism, Houdini as an ardent skeptic who often publicly exposed fraudulent mediums and Conan Doyle as a true believer who became convinced that the dead could and did communicate with the living. Despite their differing perspectives the two men not only respected each other but became friends. The correspondence between them on the subject provides a fascinating glimpse not only into the personalities of two talented and interesting celebrities but also into a psychic phenomenon that is the ancestor of today's channeling craze.Based on original correspondence, photographs, and his own extensive research, Massimo Polidoro reconstructs this unusual friendship between a believer and a skeptic, which weathered mediums, seances, an apparition of Houdini's departed mother, automatic writing by Conan Doyle's wife, public debunkings, and hurt feelings. He also discusses the final rift that ended the friendship of the two strong-willed men. Fans of Conan Doyle, Houdini, magic, and the historical roots of the New Age will be delighted by this amazing story.Massimo Polidoro is executive director of the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, editor of Scienza & Paranormale (Science and the Paranormal), and author of twelve books on the paranormal.