Stewart James
{{Short description|Canadian inventor (1908–1996)}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Cover of Genii (1991)
| birth_name = John George Stewart James
| birth_date = May 14, 1908
| birth_place = Courtright, Ontario
| death_date = November 5, 1996
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality = Canadian
| known_for =
| notable works =
}}
Stewart James (May 14, 1908 – November 5, 1996) was a Canadian postman who became one of magic's most prolific inventors.{{Cite journal|last=Warlock|first=Elizabeth|date=May 1990|title=Our Side of the Pond|url=http://askalexander.org/display/40836/Linking+Ring/100|journal=The Linking Ring|volume=70|issue=5|pages=100|url-access=subscription }} He spent most of his life in Courtright, Ontario.{{Cite journal|last=Beam|first=Steve|date=November 2007|title=No Oxymoron|url=http://askalexander.org/display/20384/M+U+M/558|journal=MUM|volume=97|pages=74–75|url-access=subscription }}
Biography
Stewart James was highly respected for his creativity and invention of magic tricks; inventions of James's are used by many magicians despite his low name recognition{{Cite book |last=Randi |first=James |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26162991 |title=Conjuring |date=1992 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-312-08634-2 |location=New York |oclc=26162991|author-link=James Randi}}{{rp|265}} Martin Gardner described him as "a magician who has probably devised more high-quality mathematical card tricks than anyone who ever lived".{{Cite book |last=Gardner |first=Martin |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/213601602 |title=Origami, Eleusis, and the Soma cube : Martin Gardner's mathematical diversions |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |others=Martin Gardner, Mathematical Association of America |isbn=978-0-521-75610-5 |location=Cambridge |oclc=213601602|author-link=Martin Gardner}}{{rp|35}}
James ran a publishing company named Jogestja, Ltd.
Books
- One More Thought on Cards (1955)
- Compiled and edited the Abbott Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks
- Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks, Vol. 1 (1941)
- Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks, Vol. 2 (1968)
- Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Tricks, Vol. 3 (1980)
- Stewart James in Print: The First 50 Years (1989), edited by P. Howard Lyons and Allan Slaight
- The James File, Vol. 1 and 2 (2000) by Allan Slaight, contains nearly 1700 pages of Stewart James's magic.
- The Essential Stewart James (2007)
Awards
References
{{Reflist}}
[https://www.sarniathisweek.com/news/local-news/courtrights-einstein-of-magicians-honoured-with-waterfront-storyboard?fbclid=IwAR0A4gWAOrRq2HZr3UAF_huW34Rpv9OHXeBL9j6CnmUZ5ioBcCXjtd69BQE]
Further reading
- James Bibliography, Ibidem #22 (October 1960), and reprinted in Ibidem, Vol. 2 (2001).
- Cover Linking Ring, November 1990.
- Cover Genii 1991 March
- Obit - Genii 1996 November
- [http://stewartjames.magicana.com/ The Life and Magic of Stewart James online exhibition]
- [http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/unthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=204238#Post204238 David Ben post on Genii]
- {{cite journal | last1 = Tuenter | first1 = Hans J. H. | doi = 10.1080/0025570X.2024.2402197 | title = Combinatorial Analysis of a Classic Card Trick | journal = Mathematics Magazine | volume = 97 | issue = 5 | pages = 551-558 |date=December 2024| mr=4839871}}
{{Academy of Magical Arts Creative Fellowship}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Stewart}}
Category:20th-century Canadian inventors
Category:People from Lambton County
Category:Academy of Magical Arts Creative Fellowship winners