Mark Chorvinsky, founder of Strange Magazine has died of cancer at 51. I knew Mark somewhat when I worked at Dream Wizards, his legendary gaming store in Rockville, Maryland way back in the (gasp!) late Seventies. I was never into gaming; I worked the magic counter (at one point, I demoed magic at Dream Wizards and the late great Al's Magic Shop at the same time).
One of the fellow magi I used to hang out with was a talented kid named Alain Nu, who now has his own TV show. On the Magic Cafe Forum a couple of weeks ago, Alain said, "I really mean it when I say that [Chorvinsky] was my greatest influence in mentalism. He was the man who showed me the 'real world' of strange phenomena!"
Unfortunately, at the time I was working for Mark I was a diehard CSICOP skeptic. I knew nothing and cared nothing about the serious investigation of strange scientific anomolies; as far as I was concerned, it was all bunk and those who took such subjects seriously were deluded cranks. Not the best attitude to take if I wanted to be friends with Mark!
Mark was definitely ahead of his time in both the world of gaming and that of borderland scientific research. I wish I could have had the chance to meet him again as an open-minded adult.
3 comments:
And who says you are now open minded? Ok, perhaps you are, you didn't scorn me for sleeping with that shee.... oh wait. never mind.
JB,
Why would I scorn you for your natural bestial desires? It's not like it was a goa...uh, never mind.
There's really nothing wrong with sheepherders and goatherders. I don't know where the beastial desires comment came from.
But back to more topical stuff. Have you ever thought that perhaps schizophrenics are in a permanent state of dillusion, much like someone on LSD or some other hallucinogen?
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