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Difference between revisions of "Walter B. Gibson"

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[[Walter Brown Gibson]] (September 12, 1897 - December 6, 1985) was an American author and a professional magician best known for his work on The Shadow. Gibson, under the pen-name Maxwell Grant, wrote Shadow stories at an amazing rate to satisfy public demand during the character's golden age in the 1930s and 1940s. He was married to Litzka R. Gibson, also a writer, and the couple lived in New York state.
 
 
{{Infobox person
 
{{Infobox person
| image                    =  
+
| image                    = Legerdemain.jpg
 
| image_size                =  
 
| image_size                =  
 
| alt                      =  
 
| alt                      =  
| caption                  =  
+
| caption                  = On cover of [[Legerdemain]] (March 1981)
 
| birth_name                = Walter Brown Gibson
 
| birth_name                = Walter Brown Gibson
 
| birth_day                = September 12,
 
| birth_day                = September 12,
 
| birth_year                = 1897  
 
| birth_year                = 1897  
| birth_place              =  
+
| birth_place              = Germantown, Pennsylvania
 
| death_day                = December 06,
 
| death_day                = December 06,
 
| death_year                = 1985
 
| death_year                = 1985
| death_place              =  
+
| death_place              = Kingston, New York
 
| resting_place            = Block D, Section 2, Lot 110,
 
| resting_place            = Block D, Section 2, Lot 110,
 
Montrepose Cemetery, Kingston, New York
 
Montrepose Cemetery, Kingston, New York
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| misc                      =
 
| misc                      =
 
}}
 
}}
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'''Walter Brown Gibson''' (September 12, 1897 - December 6, 1985) was an American author and a professional magician best known for his work on The Shadow. Gibson, under the pen-name Maxwell Grant, wrote Shadow stories at an amazing rate to satisfy public demand during the character's golden age in the 1930s and 1940s.
 +
 
 +
He was married to Litzka R. Gibson, also a writer, and the couple lived in New York state.
 
==The Shadow==
 
==The Shadow==
 
Gibson wrote the first Shadow story in 1931, creating a character around the narrator of the Detective Stories radio drama. He was very prolific, writing 282 out of 325 Shadow novels, at a top rate of two novels per month.
 
Gibson wrote the first Shadow story in 1931, creating a character around the narrator of the Detective Stories radio drama. He was very prolific, writing 282 out of 325 Shadow novels, at a top rate of two novels per month.
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* Masters Fellowship from [[Academy of Magical Arts]] (1979)
 
* Masters Fellowship from [[Academy of Magical Arts]] (1979)
  
==Books guost-written==
+
==Books ghost-written==
 
*Howard Thurston's [[200 Tricks You Can Do]] (1926)
 
*Howard Thurston's [[200 Tricks You Can Do]] (1926)
 
*Howard Thurston's [[200 More Tricks You Can Do]] (1927)
 
*Howard Thurston's [[200 More Tricks You Can Do]] (1927)
*Blackstone's Secrets of Magic (1929)  
+
*[[Blackstone's Secrets of Magic]] (1929)  
*Blackstone's Modern Card Tricks (1932)
+
*[[Blackstone's Modern Card Tricks]] (1932)
 +
*[[Blackstone's Modern Card Tricks and Secrets of Magic]] (1941)
  
 
==Books==
 
==Books==
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* [[The Magician's Manual]] (1933)
 
* [[The Magician's Manual]] (1933)
 
* [[The New Magician's Manual]] (1936)
 
* [[The New Magician's Manual]] (1936)
* [[Secrets of Magic]] (1945)
+
* [[Secrets of Magic (Gibson)|Secrets of Magic]] (1945)
 
* [[Professional Magic for Amateur]] (1947)
 
* [[Professional Magic for Amateur]] (1947)
 
* [[Magic Explained]] (1949)
 
* [[Magic Explained]] (1949)
 
* [[What's New in Magic?]] (1956)
 
* [[What's New in Magic?]] (1956)
 +
* [[Houdini's Fabulous Magic]] (with Dr. Morris Young) (1961)
 
* [[Magic Made Simple]] (1963)
 
* [[Magic Made Simple]] (1963)
 
* [[The Master Magicians]] (1966)
 
* [[The Master Magicians]] (1966)
* Secrets of Magic: Ancient and Modern (1967)
+
* [[Secrets of Magic: Ancient and Modern]] (1967)
* [[The Complete Illustrated Book of Card Magic]](1969)
+
* [[The Complete Illustrated Book of Card Magic]] (1969)
 
* [[Encyclopedia of Magic & Conjuring]] (1976)
 
* [[Encyclopedia of Magic & Conjuring]] (1976)
 
* [[The Complete Illustrated Book of Close-up Magic]] (1980)
 
* [[The Complete Illustrated Book of Close-up Magic]] (1980)
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* Walter B. Gibson and The Shadow, by Thomas J. Shimeld (2205; McFarland & Company; ISBN 978-0786423613), is a biography of Walter Gibson.
 
* Walter B. Gibson and The Shadow, by Thomas J. Shimeld (2205; McFarland & Company; ISBN 978-0786423613), is a biography of Walter Gibson.
  
==References==
+
{{References}}
* http://www.mahatmaland.com/profiles/SAMAssembly4.pdf
+
* Cover [[Genii 1979 April]]
+
* Obit [[Genii 1986 January]]
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* http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37823139
+
 
{{Wikipedia}}
 
{{Wikipedia}}
 +
* http://www.mahatmaland.com/profiles/SAMAssembly4.pdf (link no longer works )
 +
* Cover, [[Sphinx|The Sphinx, Vol. 19, No. 6, August 1920]], Walter B. Gibson, page 167
 +
* Cover, [[M-U-M|M-U-M, Vol. 66, No. 12, May 1977]], Walter B. Gibson, magician-of-the-month, by John Zweers, page 13
 +
* Cover, [[Genii 1979 April|Genii Magazine, Vol. 43, No. 4, April 1979]]
 +
* [[Genii 1986 January|Genii Magazine, Vol. 49, No. 7, January 1986]], Obituaries, Walter B. Gibson, by Charles Reynolds, page 470
 +
* [[Linking Ring|The Linking Ring, Vol. 66, No. 2, February 1986]], Broken Wand, Walter B Gibson,, page 121
 +
* [[M-U-M|M-U-M, Vol. 75, No. 9, February 1986]], Broken Wand, Walter B. Gibson, page 41
 +
* Cover, [[M-U-M|M-U-M, Vol. 76, No. 2, July 1986]], Walter B. Gibson, a Tribute, page 18 
 +
* [[Linking Ring|The Linking Ring, Vol. 66, No. 12, December 1986]], A Tribute to Walter Gibson, by William V. Rauscher, page 117
 +
* http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37823139
  
[[Category:Biographies|Gibson]]
+
[[Category:Biographies]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson}}
+
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson,Walter}}

Revision as of 14:59, 26 December 2016

Walter B. Gibson

On cover of Legerdemain (March 1981)
BornWalter Brown Gibson
September 12, 1897
Germantown, Pennsylvania
DiedDecember 06, 1985 (age 88)
Kingston, New York
Resting placeBlock D, Section 2, Lot 110, Montrepose Cemetery, Kingston, New York

Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897 - December 6, 1985) was an American author and a professional magician best known for his work on The Shadow. Gibson, under the pen-name Maxwell Grant, wrote Shadow stories at an amazing rate to satisfy public demand during the character's golden age in the 1930s and 1940s.

He was married to Litzka R. Gibson, also a writer, and the couple lived in New York state.

The Shadow

Gibson wrote the first Shadow story in 1931, creating a character around the narrator of the Detective Stories radio drama. He was very prolific, writing 282 out of 325 Shadow novels, at a top rate of two novels per month.

Gibson is recognized as the creator of much of The Shadow's mythos, although his tales frequently conflict with the better-known radio version. For example, Gibson's Shadow is, in reality, Kent Allard, an aviator who sometimes posed as playboy Lamont Cranston. On the radio, The Shadow really is Cranston, a "wealthy young man about town." Similarly, Shadow companion Margo Lane arose not from the pulps but from the radio program; she was added to offer a contrasting female voice.

Magic and other non-fiction

Gibson wrote more than 100 books on magic, psychic phenomena, true crime, mysteries, rope knots, yoga, hypnotism, and games. He served as ghost-writer for books on magic and/or spiritualism by Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Harry Blackstone, and Joseph Dunninger. Gibson also introduced the famous "Chinese linking rings" trick in America, and invented the Nickels To Dimes trick that is still sold in magic stores to this day.

With his wife Litzka R. Gibson, he co-wrote The Complete Illustrated Book of the Psychic Sciences, (Doubleday, 1966), a 404 page book which explains how to practice many popular forms of divination and fortune-telling, including astrology, tasseography, graphology, and numerology. Litzka Gibson, who sometimes used the pen-name Leona Lehman, also wrote her own books on topics as diverse as palmistry, dancing, and personal hygiene.

Awards and honors

Books ghost-written

Books

Further reading

  • Man of Magic & Mystery; A Guide to the Work of Walter B. Gibson, by J. Randolph Cox (1988; Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, NJ), is a bibliography of Gibson's works.
  • Walter B. Gibson and The Shadow, by Thomas J. Shimeld (2205; McFarland & Company; ISBN 978-0786423613), is a biography of Walter Gibson.

References

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