(Hank) Moorehouse 1934 – 2011 - The Society of American Magicians

6 M-U-M Magazine
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
MICHAEL CLOSE
This column is the last
thing that gets written
each month; this
is due not so much to procrastination
(which I’m very
good at), but rather to allow
the inclusion of any late-breaking news. The first week of
July had lots of news, and, unfortunately, it was all bad.
As I’m sure most of you know by now, PNP Hank
Moorehouse died July 2, 2011, while traveling in China
with a touring close-up show he produced. At the national
convention in Pittsburgh (which, at the time of this writing,
is next week), Hank was to be the guest of honor. Hank’s
memory will be honored with a celebration of his life.
George Schindler offers some thoughts on his friend in the
Dean’s Diary column on page 76. I’m sure that there will be
some great Hank Moorehouse stories shared in Pittsburgh.
Here’s one from Dennis Loomis:
“I’m still shocked at the news about my old pal Hank
Moorehouse. Hank was a big influence as I started my professional
career. For the brief period that he ran the small
magic shop in Ann Arbor, I was his Saturday afternoon
counter demonstrator. I also traveled with him to many conventions
to help him run the booth.
“In his early years as a magician, Hank fell in love
with the vanishing cigarette in the handkerchief (thumb
tip version). He was a smoker, and seldom went out of the
house without a thumb tip and a handkerchief. When Hank,
Marcello Truzzi, and I founded Ring 210 in Ann Arbor, we
had an annual banquet with dinner and a show. To aid the
treasury, we sold tickets to lay people as well. At our first
banquet, Hank was the emcee. To warm up the audience, he
had decided to do the cigarette vanish. He lit a cigarette, took
out his pocket handkerchief, formed a cavity in the handkerchief
with his thumb, and pushed the lit cigarette inside, as
he had done thousands of times before. As he withdrew his
thumb, for some unknown reason, the thumb tip did not stay
on, but flew up into the air and fell to the stage with a clatter.
None of us who knew him could believe it, and neither could
Hank. He looked down at that thumb tip smoldering away
on the floor and said, ‘Oh, s#*t!’
“The next week, Marcello and I went to a trophy shop
in town and bought a small trophy, glued a thumb tip on to
it, and had the plaque engraved with the words ‘Oh, s#*t!”
We presented it to him at our next meeting and we all had a
good laugh about it. Hank laughed the loudest, as we knew
he would.
“He was a gem, and one of a small group of people who
really helped me to get my career going in the first few years.
It’s hard to believe that he’s gone.”
Hank was the subject of the cover story by PNP Bradley
Jacobs in the June 2011 M-U-M. So long, Hank; you will be
missed.
To compound the sad news, the magic world lost several
other prominent people during the last week of June and the
first week of July. Tom Ewing writes, “Houdini buffs and
magic history enthusiasts lost a real friend with the passing
of Sid Radner on June 25. Sid was a leading authority on
Houdini and frequently lectured at the annual Magic Collectors’
Association gatherings. At one time he owned
Houdini’s original water torture cell, the oversized milk can
that preceded the cell, scrapbooks, handcuffs, locks, picks,
and other secret devices used by the escape king. He obtained
many of these directly from Hardeen, and later broadened
his collection significantly. Always interested in spreading
Houdini’s name and fame, he was associated with the Houdini
Museum in Niagara Falls, the Outagamie Museum/Houdini
Historical Center in Appleton, Wisconsin, and other public
venues. This kind and gentle man will be missed.”
My old friend Jimmy Yoshida died on July 3, 2011. Jimmy
was a kind and charming man, who always seemed to have
a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his face. He was a great
host and a great ambassador for magic. Aloha, Jimmy.
You may not know who B.J. Jennings was, but she was
important in the lives of two of magic’s legendary greats,
Dai Vernon and her husband, Larry Jennings. For a while,
Vernon lived at the Jennings home. When Larry’s health
declined, B.J.’s ministrations kept him alive longer than
would have been expected. After Larry’s death, B.J. moved
to Las Vegas, and Lisa and I got to know her there. She was
fiesty and always fun to be around, and she had great stories
of life with Larry and the Professor. B.J. died on July 4, 2011.
On an upbeat note, Warren J. Kaps, chairman of The
Society of American Magicians Magic Endowment Fund,
has announced that four young magicians have been
awarded scholarships to two magic camps this summer. As
part of the Endowment Fund program, one will attend the
Sorcerer’s Safari Camp in Toronto, Canada, and three will
go to Tannen’s Magic Camp in suburban Pennsylvania. Here
are their names:
Sorcerer’s Safari Winner: Mario Seki (age 13)
Tannen’s Magic Camp Winners: Sean Burke (age 14),
David Laid (age 13), and Yathundandh R.R. (age 13)
The Society of American Magicians Magic Endowment
Fund is proud of its achievement and growth, as well as
the expansion of its scholarship program, which enables
deserving youngsters from all over the world to attend
magic camps. �