Obie O'Brien

Obie O'Brien
Cover of Genii (1986)
Born	Ronald James O'Brien June 3, 1932 Ottawa, Canada
Died	September 11, 2021 (age 89)
Nationality	American

"Obie" O'Brien (b.1932-d.2023) is a magician, mathematics professor, athletics referee, former All American hockey player, inventor, author and co-founder of the Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic.

Biography

O'Brien discovered Eddie Fechter's Forks Hotel in 1961 while doing graduate work in Buffalo New York. In the 1970s, O'Brien started his own magic lecture bureau which he booked magicians as they are available at magic clubs around the country.

His expertise in hockey got him selected to work for the hockey games in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid where he was scorer for the infamous upset over the Russians by the USA team.

He was international president of the IBM in 1994.

Honors and awards

• Cover Linking Ring October 1985
• Cover Genii 1986 August
• Cover Linking Ring July 1993
• Excelsior Trophy for his contribution to close-up magic

Books

• A Fork Full of Appetizers. Book 1 (1982)
• A Fork Full of Appetizers. Book 1 (1984)

References

• Cover, The Linking Ring, 65, No. 10, October 1985, Our Cover, “Obie” O’brien, by Phil Willmarth, page 74
• Cover, Genii Magazine, Vol. 50, No. 2, August 1986
• Cover, The Linking Ring, Vol. 73, No. 7, July 1993, R.J. "OBIE" O'BRIEN, by Gary Ouellet, page 55
• Cover, The New Tops, Vol. 34, No. 1, January 1994
• M-U-M, Vol. 99, No. 7, December 2009, 4F Files, by Steve Marshall - Head Forker – Obie O’Brien, page 64
• Cover, The Linking Ring, Vol. 90, No, 4, April 2010, Obie O’Brien, a Salute, by Joan Caesar, page 30