David Goodsell did a good job for years, and I expect everyone was wondering what the new change in management would bring when he retired.

Well, John Moehering is doing a great job. In particular, I like the recent issue with Tim Conover on the cover. The articles on Dai Vernon, Tim Conover, and the numerous great tricks and reviews make that particular issue right up there with the finest magic magazines I've seen. All of the other issue since he took over have been great too.

I believe John Moehring was the former editor of Magic Magazine(?), so he didn't come in cold, but change is never easy and I congratulate him for pulling it all together so quickly.

John did come from Magic Magazine. I am fortunate enough to have gotten to know John very well since last summer. What is great is that he loves suggestions, and he loves new articles and routines submitted, so send away. We are on our way to being, if not already, the best magic publication in the world. We are already the oldest and best magic organization, so of course it stands to reason we would also put out the finest magic pubication. Since John came aboard we have also realized the most membership growth the SAM has seen in over a decade. There is a reason, and if you are not a member, what are you waiting for? Just go to http://www.magicsam.com. You can join online. Don't miss out on another issue.

Click here to view attached image.

I've received e-mails asking what happened to my “The Ostrich Factor” column in MUM Magazine. MUM editor John Moehring asked me specifically for a series of six articles (mentioned in the June 2006 article) with “The Ostrich Factor” theme, similar subject matter of my book by the same name. These six articles appeared in the January through June 2006 issues. I have other projects in progress, but for the present, I have no future plans for magazine articles.

Thanks again for the inquiries. I appreciate your interest in “The Ostrich Factor” articles.

Gerald

John has really improved MUM magazine. I used to wait for Magic Magazine to come each month, now it is MUM. I like the way John mixes stories about the members in with stories on the bigger names in magic. I have recommemded the SAM to many magic friends, but they always had an excuse not to join. Now with the improved MUM magazine, they are changing their mind. Both John and the new MUM are great assests to our society. Keep up the great work John!!!
Best regards,
Jim

I used to wait for MUM to come to my door. When it arrived, I read it cover to cover. Now I cannot wait for it to come to the door and flip though it and see the pretty pictures. Personally, I liked the direction that David had taken MUM. We got to explore some of the fringes of magic as well as the enjoy the standards. Now it is more mainstream, a decidedly different direction.

Everything changes, some changes are liked by some, others not.

There is much I miss, and a few new items I like. I liked the idea that the items that used to be reviewed were the better items, and the reviews were written by people I knew and trusted. Most all reviews were positive and if it was reviewed in MUM it was worth looking at. Not true anymore, reviewers range from the well known to the unknown (at least to me any my 30+ years in the field) and negativity is becoming common place.


A favorite place to start used to be the Meeting Reports, here you could find out what was happening around the society, this has been reduced to short "catchy news bits" and a short timeline has been required for submission.


Yes, the new MUM is in full color and it resembles the other magazines now. But to me, it has lost much of its charm.

Everything changes, some changes are liked by some, others not.

This is my personal opinion.
Tony Iacoviello

I love the new MUM- John does an amazing job with it!

In the old MUMs I always used to turn to Hugh Turleys articles first. I always enjoyed them and miss them actually...

best regards,
Matt Tomasko

I have to admit that I was concerned about the change in editors when David Goodsell announced that he was stepping down. Lots of columnists that I looked forward to every month were leaving -- how would they be replaced?

After six months with John Moehering as editor, I'm happy to say that I still look forward to getting MUM every month. There are new columnists that I look forward to every month (I'm sorry the "Ostrich Factor" is gone), and I like the Magic from the Orient section and the "Gold from the Archives" as well. All in all, I'm happy with the change, even though I still miss some of the old columnists.

I'm particularly happy that I had a chance to meet John Moehering at the SAM convention in Louisville last week, and tell him how much I enjoy the magazine under his leadership. I expect he heard that a lot last week, even as we honored David Goodsell for 30 years of leadership.

-Phil in KC

I've probably known John Moehring longer than anyone else on this forum. John is originally from Rockdale, Texas, which is a fairly small town. He used to come to Houston to work with "Mysterious Howard" Campbell, who was the owner of the magic shop where I worked.

Howard gave John a lot of pointers. When Six Flags over Texas opened, John and another fellow switched off the manipulation act from show to show.

He knows magic inside and out, and he is in a really good place. And he is a nice guy, to boot.