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(Fillmore, California: 23rd May 1929 - 8th April 2002)
Worked for Union Oil Company until retiring in 1989. Amateur cardman. Wrote Spelling the Aces (1967), The Free Cut Principle (1967, 25pp). See Karl Fulves, Gene Finnell's Card Magic (1973, 76pp). Tricks in Pallbearers, etc.
The "Free Cut Principle" was first discovered by John P. Hamilton and published in 1948 in The Eyes of the Gods. Gene Finnell independently discovered the same principle two decades later and published several applications of it in his Free Cut Principle booklet in 1967. Since then many card tricks have been created to make use of it. It does not require any dexterity, nor is it hard to understand once you know how it works. Nevertheless, it is very effective and practical for a range of applications.