Hereward Carrington
(Jersey, Channel Islands [British owned]: 17th October 1880 - 26th December 1958)
Hereward Hubert Lavington Carrington was born in England but already moved with 8 years of age to the US. Lived many years in Los Angeles where he died. He became a paranormal researcher, psychic investigator, and author. As an amateur magician he generally had a critical stand toward paranormal phenomena and exposed the tricks of fraudulent mediums including those used in slate-writing, table-turning, trumpet mediumship, materializations, sealed-letter reading and spirit photography. However, he also thought that some mediumship phenomena was genuine which resulted in lengthy discussions with Harry Houdini. He also published his unconventional thoughts on dieting, fasting and nutrition.
Wrote Hindu Magic ([1909], 52pp; rev ed), Handcuff Tricks (1913, 61pp), Side-Show and Animal Tricks (1913, 66pp; repr 1973), The Boys' Book of Magic (1920, 284pp), Magic for Everyone (1927; repr 1942, 138pp), and (with B.M.L. Ernst) Houdini and Conan Doyle (1932, 255pp). Also wrote extensively on psychic phenomena, from The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism (1908, 440pp; repr 1920), thru Eusapia Palladino and Her Phenomena (1909), to Psychic Oddities (1952). See Paul Tabori, Pioneers of the Unseen (1972) for bio sketch.
