T. Nelson Downs had J. N. Hilliard. Houdini, Blackstone and Mark Wilson had Walter Gibson. Dai Vernon had Lewis Ganson.
Who are the modern "Ghost writers" who will take on the job done by giants such as these? Kaufman? Steinmeyer? Someone else?

They have already taken on that role. And they are fulfilling it very well.

I think Walter Gibson was one of the best writers who ever described a trick and the techniques used in it. Everything he wrote was crystal clear. I patterned my own way of describing moves after his. I had the opportunity to meet him in 1977 at a TAOM convention. This was very important to me, because I had a chance to discuss style with him.

He was really a genius.

No argument here! Gibson also wrote a great deal of fiction under various noms de plume, the best known being Maxwell Grant (creator of The Shadow)
The sheer volume of work he produced was staggering, not to mention that pretty much all of it was GOOD!

Don

Here is something I'm sure you will enjoy.

http://www.mysticlightpress.com/index.php?page_id=131

Regards, Mark

Thanks, Mark!

Julie

Very interesting reading about a genius in the field of writing magic. I proudly own a book titled "The World's Best Book of Magic" By Walter B. Gibson that came from the lirary of George Johnstone. Inside is the inscription; To George Johnstone...In memory of old times, and it is signed Walter Gibson.
Copyright is 1927..
Rennie

Hi Julie,

Glad you enjoyed it, but the real thanks should go to Mr. Rauscher who wrote such a wonderful tribute about his friend, Mr. Gibson. I very much enjoyed the personal side that was discussed.

I agree 100% with Mr. Palmer, who hit the nail on the head when he spoke of Gibson’s clear writing style, it really does stand out, and is what I too have always enjoyed about his books.

Two of my favorite Gibson teaching books were published in his later years, The Complete Illustrated Book of Close-up Magic, and The Complete Illustrated Book of Card Magic, both are goldmines of well-taught magic.

Regards, Mark Damon

You are absolutely right. Those are excellent books. Bruce Elliott was another very talented writer, as well. He was a man of principle. He started to apply to one of the major magical societies, but when he saw that there was a spot on the application for "race," he decided that it wasn't for him. This was shortly after WW II, when such items were the rule, not the exception. He was killed as he crossed the street.

Walter Gibson's secrets of writing were quite simple. He used words everyone understood. He wrote at approximately a sixth or seventh grade level, so anyone could understand his writing.

When I wrote instructions, I would give the instructions and the props to my mother. Mom wasn't stupid or ignorant, but she was of average intelligence. She did have trouble reading, because she left school early during the depression, and took a job so she could help feed the family. I would come back an hour later and see if she could do the trick. If she had questions, I would change the wording. Walter Gibson thought that was a good idea.

Mom could do a really good cut and restored rope, by the time she finished teaching me how to write the instructions!

Mark,
Thanks for the link to Mr. Rauscher's story, I really enjoyed it.
Bill,
Thanks for your own story about your Mom, I enjoyed that too!
Don

I have an autographed copy of Walter Gibson's The Complete Illustrated Book of Close-Up Magic. He was Guest of Honor at a Collector's Week-End held at Magic, Inc. just after the book was published. He was very humble, but very proud of his new book. My memory says he was almost shy, but very gracious in taking time to talk individually with anyone who approached him.

Julie

That's exactly the way I remember him, too.

There's another writer who shall remain nameless, who writes books that are predominantly about card magic. The reason he is going to remain nameless is that he trolls these forums looking for anything anyone has posted about him and he cannot take any critcism at all.

He would do well to read Walter Gibson once more. Walter had a very simple, easy to read style. This other fellow falls into cliches and cannot write three sentences without the first person personal pronoun showing up.

Much of the material he has is good, some of it is improvements on things that needed no improvement.

Bill's "nameless" writer is, in my mind, a logical and necessary addition to the list. A number of my posts throughout my tenure at the Café will label me a fan, without doubt. He is one of my earliest and fondest inspirations, and he continues to publish exceptional material.

Other names as yet unmentioned here which I would eagerly add are Stephen Minch, Mike Caveney and David Charvet. As for names of the future, I will be keeping an eye out for works by Andi Gladwin, as well.

You may be making an assumption.

Don't let your admiration for a person's tricks be confused with his ability to write material well. The three fellows you mentioned by name are excellent writers, of course. I would say that they are the equivalent of someone like Hilliard, although all three of them are much more capable performers than Hilliard ever was.