User:Professor JR

This user is an Amateur magician.

User of "MAGICPEDIA" for a number of years --- registered as "Professor JR" since July 2015.

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Interest in the Art of Magic & Illusion

Professor JR developed an interest in the Art of Magic & Illusion at a young age, around age 10 or 12, after seeing several traveling magicians perform at a local high school and at an old movie theater in his hometown, and after visiting a magic shop for the first time while visiting relatives with his family in Lincoln, Nebr. The closest magic shop to his hometown was 85 miles away, but he got there as often as he could talk his Mom or Dad into taking him. And, much later in life, as an adult, had the good fortune to be able to visit many magic shops in New York City (including Jack Flosso's shop, and Tannen's) and elsewhere around the United States and in Canada. He had an office just blocks away from Al's Magic Shop in Washington, DC, where he would spend many a lunch hour and evening of Magician camaraderie.

Personal Profile

Professor JR was born and grew up in Wyoming, north of Cheyenne.

Education

He attended the Univ. of Wyoming in Laramie, earning B.A. and M.A. degrees in American Studies, studying on a Ford Foundation Scholarship; spent two years abroad on a Fulbright Grant; and, later in his career, completed a course for government executives at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Gov't. in Cambridge, Mass.

Professional Career

Over the course of his career, he has held positions as a professor at the Univ. of Hawaii, at the Univ. of Idaho, and at the National University in Asunción, Paraguay; as a seasonal Park Ranger in Yellowstone NP; as a Legislative Aide in the U.S. Congress; and as a senior Federal Government official at the Dept. of the Interior in Washington, DC, where he currently resides.

Academic Positions

• University of Hawaii, Honolulu -- American Literature.
• University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho -- British & American Literature.
• Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Asunción, Paraguay --
  -- American History; American Literature; American Political Thought.
  -- Chairman, Department of English Languages, Instituto de Lenguas.

Federal Government

• National Park Service --
  -- Seasonal Park Ranger, Yellowstone NP;
  -- National Program Manager, Headquarters, Washington, DC.
• United States Congress -- Legislative Aide.
• U.S. Department of the Interior --
  -- Congressional Liaison.
  -- SES Executive.

Memberships

• Society of American Magicians
• Washington Wizards
• Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles
• ΌΔΚ - Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society
• ΦΈΦ - Univ. of Wyo. Phi Epsilon Phi Honor Society
• ΦΔΘ - Phi Delta Theta
• Iron Skull Honorary
• Assoc. of National Park Rangers (ANPR) - Life Member
• Employees & Alumni Association of the Nat'l. Park Service (E&AA) - Life Member
• National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)[1]
• National Wildlife Federation (NFW)[2]
• The Nature Conservancy|
• Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)|
• Honolulu Academy of Arts|

Personal Data

Professor JR resides with his wife --- a television & film producer --- and family, just outside Washington, DC, where he is the purveyor of a small modern & contemporary art, and antiques & collectibles business; enjoys pursuing his interest in the art of Magic and Illusion, and collecting vintage & antique magic apparatus and memorabilia; and shares with his family a love of the outdoors, and participating in local animal welfare & rescue work, in addition to other hobbies & pursuits.

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This user is a Member (M-U-M) of SAM.

This user is a Member since 1981 of Al Cohen's magic club, the Washington Wizards.

This user is a fan of Classical Traditional Magic, Grand Illusions, & Magicians who performed on Vaudeville.

This user is a Collector of memorabilia of Houdini.

This user is a Collector of memorabilia & ephemera relating to Frank Ducrot.

This user is a Collector of memorabilia related to Howard Thurston.

This user is a Collector of magical effects & memorabilia of Harry Blackstone, Sr..

This user is a Collector of magical effects & memorabilia of Al Flosso.

This user is a Collector of vintage & antique sets of the Hippity-Hop Rabbits classic effect, & of sets of both the cardboard & metal-tube loaded varieties of Passe-Passe Bottles.

This user is a former regular, until Al retired, at Al's Magic Shop in D.C. and a Collector of the Magic Effects created by, or with improved handling by Al Cohen.

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