Convention Lecture

I just finalized an agreement with Gabe Fajuri to give a talk at the Magic Collector’s Association. The convention returns to Chicago after some years. Nice to see a convention in Chicago for a change. I find it a shame and personal embarrassment that there is no annual or even semi-annual convention in Chicago. If any of you attend, please stop me and say, “Hello.”

This is a basic synopsis of my talk:

Harry Kellar and the Tribune Spook Case

Less than two years ago, I introduced a previously undiscovered event in the life of magician Harry Kellar at the L.A. Conference on Magic History. In dramatic fashion, police and Chicago Tribune reporters crash Medium Carrie Sawyer’s séance room exposing a far ranging financial fraud. Harry Kellar, coincidentally in Chicago, is called to testify in front of the grand jury about Carrie’s spiritual hi-jinks. Something of which he is personally familiar.

Now, I’m returning with more untold details of spirit medium/con woman Carrie M. Sawyer and Harry Kellar including; their jailhouse meeting 20 years after the original events, Sawyer’s missed chance at stardom, her shady mentor, and her surprising connection to Anna Eva Fay. Along the way, you will meet a cast of fraudulent mediums, their gullible supporters, and the Chicago that made it all possible.