Well lookie here. Season 2 of the Discovery series Expedition Files with Josh Gates has an episode about Houdini's death. I was almost going to skip this one until I saw that it features this serious young man.
For the record, I did not "discover a lost trove of letters hidden in Houdini's archive." This letter was in Wayne Wissner's The Houdini Correspondence File, and I first shared my thoughts about it HERE. But it is a legit, unreported aspect of Houdini's final days. It's just presented here with a bit of showbiz and cheese.
You can watch Expedition Files on Discovery. Seasons are also eventually uploaded to Amazon Prime.
Don’t cry Abby. Don’t cry. *ugly sobbing* - Abby Martin
ReplyDeleteVery interesting John. I did not know that. It puts a different spin on the idea that Houdini continue to perform because of the old adage, the show must go on.
ReplyDeleteI love what John writes at the end of his May 2015 post about the contract clause:
ReplyDelete"Could Houdini's reluctance to seek medical attention been, in part, because he knew this $1000 a day fine was hanging over him? Was he trying to make it through Detroit before surrendering himself to the doctors?"
I think so. I believe it's the reason why upon his arrival in Detroit he brushed off Dr. Dretzka's diagnosis that he had appendicitis and needed surgery ASAP.
agree. Houdini had to have something MORE significant than his medical health to refuse an immediate operation...and money was a major issue with Houdini.
DeleteAbsolutely Dr. Gillespie! Money was a major issue with him. He grew up in miserable poverty and this definitely had a profound effect on him. People who grow up in poverty and manage to create wealth are terrified of going back there again. Professor Silverman called it "fear of annihilation" in his Houdini biography. His gamble to defeat that contract clause ended in disaster for him.
DeleteNice picture of Buster Keaton in there as houdini as a child.
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