Friday, October 25, 2013

Marie Hinson on Edward Saint: "He was the man who said 'no'."

It was 71 years ago this week that Charles David Myers a.k.a. Dr. Edward Saint died on October 22, 1942 at the age of 52. For nearly 10 years Saint had been Bess Houdini's significant other and personal manager (and some claim secret husband).

In many ways, Saint was heaven sent. Following Houdini's death in 1926, Bess struggled with money, alcohol, and was the target of unethical spiritualists and journalists out to exploit her. At one point she attempted suicide. Bess only found her footing and established a new life as "Madame Houdini" when she merged her world with Saint in the early 1930s.

So in remembrance of Edward Saint, I'm returning to our magnificent audio interview with Bess's sister, Marie Hinson (Rahner), recorded in the early 1980s by Stanley Palm and provided to us by Jon Oliver. In this clip Marie remembers exactly when and where her sister met "the man who said 'no'." Enjoy.



NOTE: I plucked that signed photo of Bessie and Ed off the internet because it's a great image that I though worked well with this post, but I don't know where it came from. If that's your photo, let me know and I will remove it or credit you.

5 comments:

  1. Specifically, Bess & Saint met at Rye Beach's "Playland Amusement Park".

    I went there every Summer as a kid, and later worked there.

    The park has been in operation since the 1920's, and is still going strong.

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  2. Just read where they/she said Saint was Feathering his nest with Bess Houdini's money???
    Page 428 Houdini..the character of Eric Weiss

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