Stan I have only been involved in magic out side of the books that I could find at the library and Tenyo tricks for about 6 years. I have been subscribing to Magic for about 2 years. Tell us a bit about the what inspired you to start putting out a monthly newsletter. As well as what is the most trying part of continuing this Magazine?

Sean

There was a small magic shop in Los Alamitos, California (right next to Long Beach). The man who owned it had a health problems, and a number of us were pitching in to help him out by running the shop. One day, one of the gang showed up with a mimeograph machine, and we started putting out a little newsletter to help generate sales. That segued into a monthly publication, pretty much four to eight pages, for both the magic shop and later the Long Beach Mystics, a junior club we were all involved with. Ultimately, that became Inside Magic, 1985-1991. When Magic Manuscript went out of business, Hank Lee called me and asked me to partner with him on a magazine he wanted to publish. After a number of months of researching and number-crunching, it was clear that there was not enough profit in it for partners. Fortunately, Hank was gracious about it, and I decided to go it alone. That was in May 1991, and in September the first issue of MAGIC Magazine hit the streets.

The most trying part of continuing this magazine? Well, I hear rumors that this Internet thing may be here to stay, so I guess we should all learn how to not only live with it, but learn how to really use it. I think that's our biggest challenge. And that's not just magazines, it's most all businesses everywhere.

...and when you told Mr. Larson that you were going into competition with him?

Actually, I believe that MAGIC and Genii compliment each other. I look forward to both. Thanks for all you do!

I did tell Bill Larsen, actually, on the same day I called Hank. It was a Friday, and Bill and I had lunch at the Castle. He couldn't have been more gracious, saying that he felt there was room for both magazines. I think, for the most part, that's the same today. While there are some crossover stories between MAGIC and Genii, we really do try to cover different things and take different approaches to that coverage.