For this month�s program, Cliff Bruce will review some to the contributions of Clayton Rawson to both the world of magic and to the world of detective fiction.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mr. Rawson, you should know that he was an illustrator, writer, editor, and magician. He was born in 1906 and died in 1971.   He created two detective/magician characters, The Great Merlini and Don Diavolo, The Scarlet Wizard.  In addition to his detective fiction, he wrote: SCARNE ON DICE, AL BAKER�S PET SECRETS, HOW TO ENTERTAIN CHILDREN WITH MAGIC, and THE GOLDEN BOOK OF MAGIC.  He illustrated and edited countless other magic books and catalogs. He contributed more than 40 tricks and articles to Ted Annemann JINX and to HUGARD�S MAGIC MONTHLY.  But these facts miss the most important feature of Mr. Rawson character.  He enjoyed life and people, and as a result he was a close friend of many of the most important magicians and mystery writers of his time. 

Come hear more about this amazing individual, and sample some of his magic.

  

Cliff says, "This month we are hoping for 100% participation for the open-mike portion of the meeting.  Do anything you like, except, of course, the 21 card trick.  If you can�t do a trick, you can dance or play air-guitar, or do bird imitations, but please plan to do something."