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I never usually post when someone famous dies, but this time I am genuinely a bit upset so will make an exception.
James Randi died yesterday aged 92.
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#JamesRandi
James Randi died yesterday aged 92.
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#JamesRandi
For those who don't know the name, he was a magician, skeptic and challenger to all purveyors of nonsense, from infamous 'metal bender' Uri Geller to more serious offenders like the charlatan faith healer, Peter Popoff.
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He was passionate about promoting science, reason and healthy scepticism inspired by Harry Houdini. He was good friends with Issac Asminov, Carl Segan, who inspired him to take up star gazing, and Johnny Carson, appearing on his TV show regularly back in the 70's & 80's.
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He was the first person to win the Richard Dawkins award, back in 2003 as well as Lifetime Achievement awards from the American Humanist Society and the AMS amongst a ton of others.
He held at least 2 world records and was the author of 10 books, and had 2 more in progress.
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He held at least 2 world records and was the author of 10 books, and had 2 more in progress.
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His film, An Honest Liar, is a beautifully told story of his private life and love for his partner, and later husband, Davyi and how they had to keep their relationship secret in a country (the USA) that seems skeptical of both homosexuals and immigrants (Randi was both).
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Randi was exceptionally generous to me personally, giving so much of his time and help in starting my 1201_Alarm project. He was the first person I interviewed for the project and held my hand as I stumbled through the interview like the amateur I was.
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I got to talk with him about his early life, his investigating pseudoscientific claims and much more both on and off camera. He even taught me a magic trick!
I've never shared the full length video, but I feel I should now.
Here it is;
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I've never shared the full length video, but I feel I should now.
Here it is;
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From this, I was inspired to write the track 'Flim Flam', the name taken from my favourite of his many books.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3k0gbrDpUkrfFd39qjWZEl
His mind was full of magic and wonders, but of course, always with a firm grip on reality.
James Randi August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020
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https://open.spotify.com/track/3k0gbrDpUkrfFd39qjWZEl
His mind was full of magic and wonders, but of course, always with a firm grip on reality.
James Randi August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020
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