Harry Houdini for Kids: His Life and Adventures with 21 Magic Tricks and Illusions

Harry Houdini for Kids: His Life and Adventures with 21 Magic Tricks and Illusions — page 7
physical forms He hated that ſhe didn't want people to think his talent was due to a spirit he wanted them to respect his cleverness at creating and per fecting the trick or illusion That made him begin debunking those who claimed to have supernatural powers such as Spiritu alists and mediums He also revealed the secrets of those who used tricks to do wrong such as criminals He even exposed some of his competitors who tried to make a living copying his act By working hard to expose and explain the history of magic he was turn ing it into a respectable profession He knew magi cians had influenced and entertained people for thousands of years and he wanted to chronicle magi cians of the past to gain prestige for magicians in the present He created a magicians guild the Society of American Magicians SAM becoming its first presi dent He wanted to be remembered as a solidly pro fessional magician Houdini was unique Although his education was sparse since he had been forced to go to work as a child his greatest joy was his book collection num bering thousands of volumes and he even wrote several books himself Like many other children at the time he turned to the public library for an educa tion reading everything he could find that would help him achieve his goals His life shows how creativity perseverance and resilience can overcome setbacks and lack of opportu