Masters Of Mystery: The Strange Friendship Of Arthur Conan Doyle And Harry Houdini
On Saturday, September 16th, 2023 the Friends of the Seaside Public Library will welcome back author Christopher Sandford, who will be giving a talk on his book, “Masters of Mystery: The Strange Friendship of Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini.” The event will take place at 2:00 p.m. in the Community Room and there will be a time after the talk for a Q&A. Renowned mystery author Arthur Conan Doyle and famous illusionist Harry Houdini first met in 1920. At the time, Conan Doyle had given up his lucrative writing career, killing off Sherlock Holmes in the process, in order to concentrate on his increasingly manic interest in Spiritualism. Houdini, who regularly conducted séances in an attempt to reach his late mother, was also infatuated with the idea of what he called a "living afterlife," though his enthusiasm came to be tempered by his ability to expose fraudulent mediums. Using previously unpublished material on the murky relationship between Houdini and Conan Doyle, this sometimes macabre, sometimes comic tale tells the fascinating story of the relationship between two of the most loved figures of the twentieth century and their pursuit of magic and lost loved ones. Christopher Sandford has published acclaimed biographies of Kurt Cobain, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, John F. Kennedy, Steve McQueen, and Roman Polanski. He has worked as a film and music writer and reviewer for over 20 years, and frequently contributes to newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. Rolling Stone has called him "the pre-eminent author in his field today." Sandford divides his time between Seattle and London. The Seaside Public Library is located at 1131 Broadway. For more information call (503)738-6742 or visit us at www.seasidelibrary.org