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Harry Lorayne, dazzling master of Total Recall, is dead at 96
NEW YORK, NY.- Harry Lorayne, who parlayed a childhood reading disability and the brutal punishment it engendered into an international career as a memory expert, summoning the names of roomfuls of strangers in a single sitting, rattling off entire small-town telephone books and telling astonished audiences what was written on any page of a given issue of Time magazine, died Friday in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He was 96. His death, at a hospital, was confirmed by his publicist, Skye Wentworth, who did not specify a cause. He had lived in Newburyport, north of Boston. Fleet of mind and fleet of mouth, Lorayne was a sought-after guest on television shows and a particular favorite of Johnny Carsons, appearing on The Tonight Show some two dozen times. Lorayne had begun his professional life as a sleight-of-hand artist and well ... More

Marvel superhero and Indigenous actress holds fast to Maya roots
SANTA MARÃA DE JESÃS.- For her big underwater scene in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Guatemalan actress MarÃa Mercedes Coroy had to hold her breath as her character, Princess Fen, gives birth in a hazy ocean world to a winged serpent son. She emerges from the watery depths as a rarity even in Marvels fantastical universe: a female Maya superhero. The day after filming that scene in Los Angeles, Coroy, rather than hanging out in Hollywood, headed home to Santa MarÃa de JesÃºs, a Kaqchikel Maya town of about 22,000 at the base of a volcano in Guatemala. By nightfall, she was curled up in bed in her familys bright-pink cinder-block house with vegetables growing in the backyard. I felt like my bed was hugging me, said Coroy, 28, one of nine siblings in a family of farmers and vendors. The next morning, she resumed her usual ... More

John Moran Auctioneers ends sale of Jewelry from the Estate of Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree
LOS ANGELES, CA.- On Wednesday, March 29, 2023, jewelry collectors, dealers, and enthusiasts tuned into the exquisite Jewelry from the Estate of Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree auction presented by John Moran Auctioneers. Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree was one of Santa Barbaras most well-known philanthropists and a pillar of the community. Lady Leslie was passionate about bringing financial support to both individual and public needs so she and her husband generously supported dozens of nonprofit organizations and causes in the Santa Barbara area, many of which bear their name in recognition. As an homage to Lady Leslie, Morans held a preview of the jewelry collection in her hometown of Montecito, CA at the gorgeous Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel. This white-glove auction performed exceptionally well, having achieved ... More

Marathon of record-setting prices for rare petroliana at Morphy's
DENVER, PA.- The energy was palpable at Morphys March 21-23 Automobilia, Petroliana & Railroadiana Auction featuring Part II of the incomparable Bobby Knudsen Jr. gas and oil advertising collection. Aggressive bidding sent prices to the Moon, with the four top sellers knocking down nearly $1.1 million. The three-day event containing 1,600 lots from the Knudsen collection plus other select consignments, chalked up a grand total of more than $8.1 million, inclusive of buyers premium. The sale was incredibly well received by both new collectors and veterans, said John Mihovetz, Morphy Auctions Automobilia & Petroliana Department Head, who was instrumental in guiding the Knudsen collection to auction and cataloged its contents. Prices ran hot throughout the opening session, which was devoted exclusively to Bobbys collection, and ... More

In 'Hamnet,' Shakespeare's wife takes the spotlight, at last
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON.- Of the numerous puzzles about William Shakespeare, those concerning his love life are the most tantalizing. Why did he marry a local woman, Anne Hathaway, have three children with her, then decamp to London for a life in the theater? What was their relationship really like? And why do we know so little about Anne herself, whom one scholar has called a wife-shaped void in the playwrights story? This year, the 400th anniversarys of Anne death, might be the year we finally hear about this other Shakespeare. A volume of celebratory poems, Anne-thology, is being published later this month. A small bust of her has been unveiled at Holy Trinity church in Stratford-upon-Avon, where her body has lain next to her husbands since 1623. And, most strikingly, a Royal Shakespeare Company production devoted ... More

Significant drawings from the Al Hirschfeld Foundation top Heritage's April Illustration Art event
DALLAS, TX.- In 1957, acclaimed illustrator Al Hirschfeld captured in one pithy and elegant composition a phenomenon that was making its way onto the Broadway stage: the serious musical. The illustration was for a New York Times Magazine article written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, director and producer George S. Kaufman that was subtitled "Musicals used to be boy and girl, song and dance, humor and happy ending. But now you can't see the chorus boys through your tears. Where will it all end?" Published six weeks after West Side Story's Broadway debut, Kaufman poked fun at the rise of musicals that left out the comedy. This work by Hirschfeld is especially memorable in its role as the harbinger of a trend. Musical Comedy or Musical Serious? depicts the industry schism taking place on Broadway stages by splitting the picture's ... More

Spectacular copy of Duck Hunt, Nintendo's 1985 entry to the U.S. home market, tops Heritage's Video Game Auction
DALLAS, TX.- By 1983, the nascent home video game industry in the U.S., led by Atari and Coleco, had crashed. The problem? Bad quality control and too much inventory. Yet by 1985 Japan's Nintendo had sold more than 2 million of its Famicom ("family computer") systems back at home, and American gamers who'd tried it agreed that it was the real deal. Nintendo in the black at the time due to its wildly successful arcade games (Donkey Kong in particular) wanted to launch its home video console in the U.S. but sought a soft launch considering the shaky market. Against a lot of odds, Nintendo chose New York City as a "beta-test" region for its first Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) for the U.S. ... More

A Pakistani film, banned at home, is celebrated abroad
HOLLYWOOD, CALIF.- Over the past year, writer-director Saim Sadiq has garnered a series of unprecedented accolades for Pakistani cinema. Last May, his debut film, Joyland, out Friday, became the first production from Pakistan to compete in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the jury prize in the Un Certain Regard sidebar. It was also the first entry from the country to be shortlisted for the best international feature film Oscar. And just last month, it emerged as the first Pakistani title to win at the Film Independent Spirit Awards in the same category. The project also counts among its executive producers Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousufzai, Oscar-winning British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed and Iranian American director Ramin Bahrani. But despite this international recognition and notable support, Joyland, ... More