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Harry Lorayne (born Harry Ratzer; May 4, 1926April 7, 2023) was an American
mnemonist The title mnemonist refers to an individual with the ability to remember and recall unusually long lists of data, such as unfamiliar names, lists of numbers, entries in books, etc. Some mnemonists also memorize texts such as long poems, speeches, o ...
, magician, and author who was called "The Yoda of Memory Training" and "The World's Foremost Memory-Training Specialist" by ''
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'' magazine. He was well known for his incredible memory demonstrations and appeared on numerous television shows–including 24 appearances on ''
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''. His book ''The Memory Book'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller. His card magic, especially his innovations in card sleights, is widely emulated by amateur and professional magicians.


Life and career

Lorayne was born Harry Ratzer and grew up poor on New York's
Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...
. His father was an alcoholic garment cutter and "a violent man" who committed suicide when Lorayne was 12; according to ''The New York Times:'' Lorayne saw his first card trick when he was six or seven years old, and immediately knew he had to figure out how to do it himself. He stole empty milk bottles from in front of apartments in the tenement in which he lived so that he could collect the $.02 deposit on them and be able to afford a deck of cards. He worked at it and figured out eight ways to perform the trick. He practiced
sleight of hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' () comprises fine motor skills used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card fl ...
at the Hamilton Fish Park in the 1930s. At age 18, he began to perform as a table magician at Billy Reed's ''Little Club'' at 70 E. 55th St. in New York. The actor
Victor Jory Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer Ni ...
, noted for his role as a magician detective, was a regular visitor to the club. Lorayne started performing memory tricks for Jory and Jory's enthusiastic response changed Lorayne's approach to performing."Interview with Roger Dreyer"
, "Dead Magicians Society", 2010
Lorayne began appearing on national television in 1958 (after hosting a local show of his own in 1951, The Prof. Magic Show), first on '' I've Got a Secret'', where he demonstrated his ability to remember everybody's name in the audience and later appeared on ''
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'' and numerous other television shows including Jack Paar, ''
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'', ''
The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...
'', ''The
Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin ( ; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest-working man in show business", he held th ...
Show'', Good Morning America, The Today Show, That's Incredible, and David Susskind. He was a regular performer (24 times) on ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...
.'' To demonstrate his memory, Lorayne would stand beside the president of the club he was visiting and be introduced to each member. The number of members of a club could reach up to 1,500. After an hour and a half, Lorayne would speak about memory for about 20 minutes and then ask if anyone had a question. He promised that he would pay any questioner whose name he could not remember a thousand dollars. He always remembered the names of every member of the audience. Lorayne also made news by memorizing and recalling information from phone books with no errors. On just about every public appearance demonstrating his memory abilities, he would meet all the people in the audience as they arrived, and then would open his show by asking all the people he met to please stand. He would ask them to sit down when he pointed to them and correctly said their name, and would usually have the entire audience sitting. He had a memory school in New York employing such instructors as Bob Elliott and Darwin Ortiz. His Memory Power video course was used as part of the training of many top corporations. Lorayne continued to give lectures and actively wrote books beyond the age of 90. He lived in a townhouse on Jane Street in New York's
West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...
. The street is sometimes called "Authors Row" due to the many writers who have lived there, and number 62, where Lorayne lived, has also been home to
John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs ...
, Thomas Meehan, and
Susan Brownmiller Susan Brownmiller (born Susan Warhaftig; February 15, 1935 – May 24, 2025) was an American journalist, author, and feminist activist, best known for her 1975 book '' Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape'', which was selected by The New ...
. According to the ''New Your Times'', "his friend
Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...
planned to give that address as the home of the playwright Franz Liebkind in his 1967 film, '' The Producers''. After Mr. Lorayne’s wife, Renée, objected that the moviegoing public would be banging on their door day and night, Mr. Brooks changed it to the fictional 100 West Jane Street." Lorayne died at a hospital in
Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes p ...
, on April 7, 2023, at the age of 96. In his obituary, ''The New York Times'' wrote that, "Mr. Lorayne’s attainments are all the more noteworthy in light of the fact that he grew up in poverty, struggled academically as a result of undiagnosed
dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...
and concluded his formal education after only a single year of high school."


Writer and publisher

Harry Lorayne was a prolific author of memory training books intended for the public, as well as books for professional magicians. ''The Memory Book'' has sold over two million copies, Bob Dylan writes in '' Chronicles: Volume One'' that he read Lorayne's book shortly before breaking through as a music star after finding it in the book collection of a friend. "Harry Lorayne is the most influential author, publisher, and teacher of magic routines in the world today," according to the magician Randy Wakeman. For twenty years, Lorayne wrote and published the monthly magazine ''Apocalypse'', which was created and started with Richard J. Kaufman, who left after the first year.


Publications

* ''How to Develop a Super Power Memory'' (1957) * ''Harry Lorayne's Secrets of Mind Power'' (1961) * ''Close-Up Card Magic'' (1962) * ''Personal Secrets'' (1964) * ''My Favorite Card Tricks'' (1965) * ''Dingle's Deceptions'' (1966) * ''Miracle Math'' (1966) * ''Best of Bill-Fooled'' (1967) * ''Deck-Sterity'' (1967) * ''The Harry Lorayne Memory Isometrics Course'' (1968) * ''Reputation-Makers'' (1971) * ''Tarbell #7'' (1972) * ''The Great Divide'' (1972) * ''Good Memory – Good Student! A Guide to Remembering What to Learn'' (1972) * ''Rim Shots'' (1973) * ''The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play'' (1974, with
Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State University, and 1960 Olympic medal, gold medal Olympian and international player be ...
) * ''Afterthoughts'' (1975) * ''The Epitome Location'' (1976) * ''Remembering People (The Key to Success)'' (1976) * ''The Magic Book'' (1977) * ''The Card Classics of Ken Krenzel'' (1978) * ''Quantum Leaps'' (1979) * ''Best of Friends, Vol. 1'' (1982) * ''Memory Makes Money'' (1985) * ''Best of Friends'', Vol. 2 (1985) * ''Star Quality'' (1987) * ''Page-a-Minute Memory Book'' (1987) * ''Super Memory – Super Student: How to Raise Your Grades in 30 Days'' (1990) * ''Trend Setters'' (1990) * ''Doug Edwards Packs a Wallop'' (1997) * ''Complete Guide to Memory Mastery'' (1998) * ''The Himber Wallet Book'' (1998) * ''Personal Collection'' (2001) * ''How to Get Rich Using the Power of Your mind'' (2003) * ''The Classic Collection, Volume 1'' (contains ''Close-Up Card Magic'', ''Personal Secrets'', ''My Favorite Card Tricks'', ''Deck-Sterity'', ''The Epitome Location'') (2005) * ''Ageless Memory: Simple Secrets for Keeping Your Brain Young'' (2007) * ''Best of Friends, Vol. 3'' (2007) * ''The Classic Collection, Volume 2'' (containing ''Reputation-Makers'', ''Rim Shots'', ''Afterthoughts'') (2008) * ''The Classic Collection, Volume 3'' (contains ''Quantum Leaps'', ''Trend Setters'', ''Dingle's Deceptions'', ''The Great Divide'') (2010) * ''Special Effects'' (2011) * ''The Classic Collection, Volume 4'' (containing ''The Magic Book'', ''Star Quality'', ''The Card Classics of Ken Krenzel'') (2012) * ''Before I Forget'' (memoirs/autobiography) (2013) * ''The Classic Collection, Volume 5'' (containing ''Doug Edwards Packs a Wallop'', ''The Himber Wallet Book'', ''Mathematical Wizardry'') (2014) * ''Jaw Droppers'' (2015) * ''Jaw Droppers Two'' (2017) * ''And Finally!'' (2018)


Columns

*''Apocalypse Magazine'' – 1978–1997 *''Genii Magazine''


Awards

* Lifetime Achievement Fellowship – Academy of Magic Arts, 2018 * John Nevil Maskelyne Prize – The Magic Circle, 2016. Awarded for contributions to magic literature. * Performing Fellowship – Academy of Magic Arts, 2002. * Lifetime Achievement Award – Society of American Magicians, 1994. * Literary Fellowship Award – The Magic Castle, 1981. * Magician of the Year Award – Society of American Magicians, 1983. * Literary & Media Fellowship – Academy of Magic Arts, 1980. * The Stars of Magic Award – International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), 1975.


See also

*
Memory sport Memory sport, sometimes referred to as competitive memory or the mind sport of memory, refers to competitions in which participants attempt to memorize then recall different forms of information, under certain guidelines. The sport has been formal ...
*
Method of loci The method of loci is a strategy for memory enhancement, which uses visualizations of familiar spatial environments in order to enhance the recall of information. The method of loci is also known as the memory journey, memory palace, journey ...
*
Mnemonic A mnemonic device ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember. It makes use of e ...
* List of people with dyslexia *
Spatial memory In cognitive psychology and neuroscience, spatial memory is a form of memory responsible for the recording and recovery of information needed to plan a course to a location and to recall the location of an object or the occurrence of an event. Sp ...
* Vedic Mathematics


References


External links

* * *
Harry Lorayne, The lives They Lived, New York Times
'
Harry Lorayne
on the Paul Daniels Show in 1980
Mathematical Wizardry by Harry Lorayne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorayne, Harry 1926 births 2023 deaths Academy of Magical Arts Literature & Media Fellowship winners Academy of Magical Arts Performing Fellowship winners American magicians American mnemonists People from the Lower East Side Writers with dyslexia American writers with disabilities Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish American memoirists 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews