THANKSGIVING AT HOUDINI'S

Invitation to 14-mile moonlight bike ride starting from Houdini Plaza, Appleton, Wisconsin.

We’ve previously posted Houdini to the Rescue, which tells the remarkable tale of how Harry saved his friend Sax Rohmer and an important American magazine from destruction.

There’s a special Thanksgiving angle to that tale, which we want to emphasize today.

The gist is that Sax, creator of the villainous Dr. Fu Manchu, was in a bad way. He had shut down, taken to his bed, refused to see anybody. And Harry “was there” for him, like a real friend should be. Picking up Sax’s story in his own words:

Unannounced, [Houdini] appeared one night when I was pacing the floor on the verge of desperation. The [hotel room] door opened, and he was there! 

If I was worried … and Heaven knows I was ... Harry Houdini was deeply concerned about me. Almost literally carrying me from the building ... he insisted upon relaxation. 

He took me to meet interesting people. He made parties to amuse me. 

I ate Thanksgiving dinner at his hospitable board in the old house which harboured the wonderful library. I wore a tweed suit over pyjamas, for he would take no refusal. 

I suppose in fact that I was fairly near the cracking point when Houdini offered me the solution!

    

You can read the detailed, unedited version here. 

May we all have, and be, friends like that. A Happy Houdini Thanksgiving to all!