John Booth
(Meadville, Pennsylvania: 7th August 1912 - November 11th 2009)
Rev Dr. John [William Nicholls] Booth, LittD, MIMC. Inspired at age 10 by a magic set. Learned at age 14 from W.J. Armstrong ("Armah"). Semi-pro at 15 (in 1927). Edited-published Canada's second (after W.G. Edwards's Edwards Monthly) magic magazine, The Canadian Magician's Digest (1929, 3 issues). Organized the first Canadian magic convention (Hamilton, Ontario) 18-19 Apr 1931. Pro 1934 - Mar 1940, as a prominent society, nightclub, and hotel magician. In 1938 also worked alternate venues as "Jancini". 1937 Sphinx Award.
Then an ordained Unitarian minister (1942 until retired in 1975). Part-time pro celebrity platform lecturer 1943 - 58, touring world-wide. 1977 AMA Literary Fellowship. 1983 SAM Hall of Fame. 1985 and 1988 H. Adrian Smith Literary Award; 1987 Magic Circle "John Nevil Maskelyne Prize".
Invented Pull-Down (late 1920s) and Booth's Baffling Block (1928). Wrote over 400 articles (since 1928) for Linking Ring, Sphinx, Genii, and Magicol. Also (since 1930) 12 books on magic: Super Magical Miracles (1930), Forging Ahead in Magic (1939, 154pp; reprinted 1944), Marvels of Mystery (1941, 146pp; reprinted 1946 and 1963), The John Booth Classics (1975, 252pp, being a reprint of the two previous books plus A Conjurer's Reminiscences), Psychic Paradoxes (1984, 243pp), Wonders of Magic (1986, 289pp), Dramatic Magic (1988, 243pp), Creative World of Conjuring (1990, 268pp), Conjurians' Discoveries (1992, 274pp), The Fine Art of Hocus Pocus (1996, 287pp), Extending Magic Beyond Credibility (2001, 272pp), Magical Mentalism. Also wrote books on religion, travel, and genealogy as "John Nicholls Booth": Fabulous Destinations, The Quest for Preaching Power, The Story of the Second Church in Boston. An index of his 1963-88 Linking Ring articles is Ben Robinson and Amy Janello (editor), Memoirs of a Magician's Ghost (1988, 243pp).
