"Books have no value in themselves.  They are valuable because they make more real, more interesting, more effective the other things readers are doing, thinking, feeling, and enjoying."  - Lionel McColvin

Some people pay great amounts for rare books as collectables and consider it a financial investment. However, I purchase books because I consider them an investment in my life and career.  I treasure one book because of the information it contains about the life and career of Jim and Marion Jordan.  They became very famous as Fibber McGee and Molly, but they were even more highly regarded for the kind of people they were in their private and professional life.  Their example inspires me to be a better person.

My wife will tell you that I love books and magazines.  I enjoy visiting antique stores where I browse through every shelf of books and magazines.  To me they are tangible link to history.  I was excited when I recently discovered a copy of the 1939 Ice Follies program.  That is the first year Frick and Frack, famous ice skating clowns, performed with an ice show in the United States.  It was interesting seeing photos from the beginning of their career, and reading about their accomplishments before they came to this country.  Leafing through the rest of the program let me imagine the entire show.  I could picture them as a part of the production.  To hold the actual program in my hand was more exciting than looking at a scanned item on the internet would have been because it was real, not just an image. It had a special meaning to me because as my parents took me to see the Ice Follies several times as a child where I saw Mr. Frick.  Seeing him perform back then helped establish my personal standards for quality in clowning.

This past summer I reread Clown: My Life in Tatters and Smiles, Emmett Kelly's autobiography.  I have lost track of the number of times I have read that book.  However, now for the first time I noticed a sentence where Emmett said he learned how to do chalk talks from a book by Guy Lockwood.  I have not been able to find any information on a book by Lockwood, but I did find information on a magazine published by Lockwood which included chalk talk lessons.  I purchased a copy of one issue.  I could imagine Emmett Kelly studying the lesson that was in print there.  Not only that, but I was amazed to discover that I already know a trick cartoon that is similar to that chalk talk drawing.  It will be easy for me to learn to do the drawing in the magazine.  I also discovered that although I had not realized it, I do a couple of other trick cartoons that are similar to those actually performed by Emmett Kelly.  When I have performed my Tramp Tradition Show in the past I have done a Chalk Talk segment in tribute to Emmett Kelly.  However, it was a performance of my own cartoons.  I felt a little apologetic about that, because that made it more about me than about Emmett.  When I perform my Tramp Tradition Show at the 2015 World Clown Association Convention in Reno, NV I will now be able to perform something that is more accurate in terms of what Emmett would have performed.  I will take pride in doing that which will translate into better stage presence improving the show.

For a long time I have wanted to perform a magic effect known as the thumb tie.  However, I never mastered it because the method I had learned for doing it seemed awkward.  Another magician sent me some copies of MUM magazine that were published by the Society of American Magicians during the early 1980's.  In one of  those magazines, I discovered a much simpler way to do the routine.  So, now I am confident that I can master the thumb tie and will begin practicing it. 

What are you interested in?  What book will make it more real?  What magazine will make if more effective?  What publication will increase your enjoyment of that interest?