Author and historian David Saltman has published another installment in his series, "Who was Houdini's father?" on his blog The Houdini File. This time David tackles the mystery of "The Duel."
Legend has it that Houdini's father, Mayer Samuel, killed a Prince in a duel, and it was for this reason the Weiss family had to flee to America. Furthermore, it's said that Houdini was actually named after the slain prince, Prince Ehrich. It's wild stuff, and despite corroboration from both Bess and Hardeen, most recent biographers have dismissed this as Houdini folklore.
But now David is uncovering information that shows the story is not as outrageous as it sounds, and that the Weiss family may have indeed had encounters with royalty while living in Budapest. It's a must read along with David's other posts on the Weiss family before America.
Thanks for the good reviews, John. The feeling is mutual.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, one thing leads to another in this work and we'll soon be publishing new info on Dr. Weiss's time in New York (about which Harry quipped, "the less said, the better") as well as the cryptic comments by Dash and Gladys on the "royal" connection.
Cool! Very excited about all this. (I thought his "the less said the better" was about their Milwaukee days? But maybe not. You are clearly are the expert on this. :))
DeleteNow I have to go double-check that quote!
ReplyDeleteLove your duel pic. Where'd it come from?
I just Googled "duel" + "1874" and it popped up. Think it's on Wikipedia.
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