Silverman was clearly miffed, but he was classy enough not to name these individuals. That just makes me all the more curious. Who were they? What were their reasons for denying him access? Ken Silverman was a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, so he was clearly going to produce a quality Houdini book. And he did.
No less of my information about Houdini has come from the holdings of private collectors. Tom Boldt of Appleton, Wisconsin, invited me to read investigative reports prepared for Houdini by Rose Mackenberg and Stewart Griscom, Houdini’s account of his visit to Anna Eva Fay, and a hundred-page stenographic record of Houdini’s Philadelphia confrontation with J. Malcolm Bird. Mario Carrandi Jr., of Belle Mead, New Jersey, graciously allowed me to take notes on Houdini’s quarrelsome correspondence with Martin Beck, and to examine rare cabinet photographs of Houdini. From the large collection of the late Milbourne Christopher (1914-84)—
magician and historian of magic—Mrs. Maurine Christopher permitted me to select for study manuscripts that include some of Houdini’s letters to Will Goldston, Harry Kellar, and others, and Houdini’s draft of A Magician Among the Spirits. David Copperfield gave me entry to his magic museum in Las Vegas, housing many of Houdini’s notes on tricks, his wax cylinder recording of patter for the Water Torture Cell, and many unique Houdini posters, lockpicks, and photos. I spent a full day at the home of David Meyer in Glenwood, Illinois, researching his choice scrapbook of clippings and personal memorabilia amassed by Houdini between 1900 and 1905. Stanley Palm of Brooklyn, New York, gave me unlimited consultation of a scrapbook gathered by Houdini in the 1890s and of Houdini’s first diary (ca. 1878-79)—key items in my account of Houdini’s early career. Most of Houdini’s other diaries—indispensable to writing his biography—are owned by a collector who generously allowed me to read them but wishes to remain anonymous.
Other collectors who own and have furnished me with original Houdini material are Roger W. Barrett, Marie Blood, John Bryce, Jr., Mike Caveney, Kevin Connolly, James Crossini, Patrick Culliton, Frank Dailey, John Daniel, Paul Daniels, Edwin A. Dawes, David De-Val, Diego Domingo, Roger E. Dreyer, John Gaughan, Ron Hilgert, Edward Hill, John Hinson, Don Hinz, Volker Huber, Ann M. James, Gene Keeney, Dorothy Young Kiamie, Ken Klosterman, George S. Lowry, William Mcllhany, Arthur E. Moses, Henry Muller, Norm Nielsen, Fulton Oursler, Jr., Charles Reynolds, Tom Rozoff, Stephen Sparks, the late Manny Weltman, and Herb Zarrow. They all have my liveliest gratitude, although my exact debt to each is made clear only in the full notes.
Others from whom I received valuable information about Houdini include Barbara Belford, John Booth, Dick Brooks, Mildred L. Buckley, David Charvet, Ormus Davenport (Ira Davenport’s great-grandson), Dorothy Dietrich, Carol Durgin, Tom Ewing, Jack Flosso, Ken Force, Stephen James Forrester, Lewis Frumkes, Alfred Holden, Ricky Jay, Walter Johnson, S. T. Joshi, Frank Koval, Kathy Leab, Bill Liles, Norman Mailer, Brooks McNamara, Marion Meade, Joel Miller, Ona Nowina-Sapinsky, Dr. James G. Ravin, Mrs. Alfred W. Roberts, David Roth, Clarice Stasz, Ken Trombly, the late M. Samuel White (Houdini’s nephew). Dr. Richard Wresch, and W. Gordon Yadon.
You might notice that Sidney Radner is not on this list. But that's because he was given his own thank you paragraph. One person, now deceased, is conspicuously absent. I strongly suspect he was one of the holdouts. But absence from this list does not necessarily identify the holdouts. Heck, I'm not on this list! And some people who are active today might not have been active in the early to mid-1990s.
Anyway, I've often puzzled over this, especially as I travel many of the same roads that Silverman traveled. It's also an intriguing part of this important book's legacy as we near its 30th anniversary.
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