John C. Sherwood

John C. Sherwood
Born	July 25 1950 Michigan
Nationality	American
Notable works	The Circuited Sorcerer
Known for	The New Tops columns

John C. Sherwood (b. 1950) is a professional writer/journalist, magician and mentalist born in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Biography

Sherwood wrote monthly columns -- "Just for Us Young Guys" and "Lost in the Forest" -- for The New Tops from 1966 through 1992, under the editorial guidance of Neil Foster, and graduated from the Chavez Studio of Magic in 1981, which Foster supervised at the time.

Sherwood's primary mentors in magic were Neil Foster, primarily as a teacher and editor, and collector/historian Robert Lund, who moved to Sherwood's hometown of Marshall, Michigan, in the early 1970s to establish his American Museum of Magic. He also credits the late David Allen of Battle Creek, Mich., as well as Phillip Hagerty, also of Marshall, for much of his insight into the craft.

As a teenager in the mid-1960s, Sherwood wrote a column, "Miscellaneous," for Top Hat, published by Magical Youths International, and his writings prompted Foster to ask him to begin writing for The New Tops. In the 1970s, Sherwood wrote two books published by Micky Hades, "The Conjurer's Calculator" and "The Circuited Sorcerer."

To audiences, Sherwood was notable for his hundreds of mentalism performances in the character of Sherlock Holmes from 1987 through 2017 - chiefly at Union City, Mich.-based Victorian Villa Inn as well as in 10 U.S. States as well as in the United Kingdom; he has spent more time "in character" as Holmes than any other living actor, according to Sherlockian historians. Among magicians, Sherwood has been best known as a writer, often of brief biographies of fellow performers, first for The New Tops and later for Vibrations, the publication of the Psychic Entertainers Association.

Sherwood lived in Michigan from 1950 until 1999, working chiefly for The Battle Creek Enquirer. He lived near Philadelphia, Pa., while employed as a journalist for Delaware's largest newspaper, The News Journal. In 2010, Sherwood moved from Pennsylvania to Fort Gratiot, Michigan, while working as an assistant city editor for The Times Herald of Port Huron; in early 2011 he moved to Union City, Michigan; and in late 2013 he moved back to his hometown of Marshall, Michigan. He was a 40-year employee of Gannett Co. newspapers and in 2012 he began work in public relation for Oaklawn Hospital in Marshall, Michigan, returning to Gannett Co. in mid-2014, retiring shortly afterward. He has continued to freelance as a writer and entertainer through his own company, MysteryVisits Communications.

In addition to board membership with Michigan theatrical organizations, Sherwood has been a member of the board of directors of the American Museum of Magic as well as The Franke Center for the Arts and Great Escape Stage Company. He is a member of the Society of American Magicians, the Psychic Entertainers Association and the International Brotherhood of Magicians (Order of Merlin), having been active in the IBM's Neil Foster Ring 89.

References

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