Our children, Kate (the anthropology doctoral candidate) and Ned (the fledgling screenwriter) Kolpan, to whom this book is dedicated, make me proud every day. They were also fine editors, slogging through the longer versions of the manuscript and doing it with a smile. Thanks to them, the book is better (and shorter).
As she did with my first novel, Etta, my agent, the amazing Katharine Cluverius, encouraged and supported me from the first page, and her edits were invaluable. Still, it seems that every time I write another book, Katharine has another baby. Last time it was the lovely Grace, this time the handsome Jonathan. I’d take some credit if it weren’t for the esteemed Jerry Boak, educator, cookbook author, and Katharine’s husband. I’m writing another one, kids. Get ready.
Katharine left the agent business in 2011, but left me in the capable hands of the dynamic Kate Lee. Thanks very much to her and everyone at ICM.
Like Katharine, Robin Rolewicz Duchnowski, who edited Etta at Ballantine, also has a baby every time I write a book. Except this time, she had two while also editing a book by Katie Couric! With all this, Robin took the time to look Magic Words over, only this time strictly as a friend. Many thanks.
At Pegasus Books, my editor, Maia Larson, made Magic Words a far better book than the one she bought. Also thanks to my visionary publisher, Claiborne Hancock, who believed in Julius and Alexander from his first look. Michael Fusco’s jacket design exceeded all expectations, as did the lovely interior by Maria Fernandez. Jonathan Rubin of Studio Nine, Philadelphia took the author photo. Also, a tip of the red pencil goes to copy editor Philip Gaskill.
As always, web guru Jacob Smith of Dinkum, Inc. came to my rescue when a great website (and the advice on how to use it) was needed. Felix Widjaja carried out the beautiful design as he did on Etta.
Margie Smith and Todd Wall of Little Window Video shot the video interviews that appear on my author home page and across the Internet. I’ve worked with them for over twenty years and they are as fine artists are they are true friends.
Five excellent books were key to my research for Magic Words: Jews Among the Indians by M.L. Marks; the indispensable Illustrated History of Magic by Milbourne Christopher; The Plains Indians by Colin F. Taylor; the fine Standing Bear biography I Am A Man by Joe Starita; and The Magic Brothers, a charming book about Compars and Alexander Herrmann by I. G. Edmonds.
Also invaluable were Mary Jo Miller, Linda Hein, and the staff at the Nebraska State Historical Society, who provided me with essential information on Julius Meyer. Much obliged also to Tanya Elder of the American Jewish Historical Society for digging up further articles and lore on Julius’s life.
My old friend and consigliere Dr. Charles Hardy of West Chester University not only knew all about immigration to the Philadelphia Lazaretto, but also took me to see its remains. I rewarded him by naming a character in this book after him and then having the character slaughtered. Charlie was delighted.
Jennifer Pankoke and Stephany Thompson of the Willa Cather Foundation were generous with their time when I needed help identifying and authenticating photographs of Julius and the Indians. Gary Rosenberg, archivist at the Douglas County, Nebraska Historical Society unearthed the photograph of Julius Meyer and Standing Bear that serves as the frontispiece of this book. I’d been looking for it in vain for two years. He found it in five minutes.
The incredibly personable Barb McDaniel at the town office in Chadron, Nebraska, put me on to Tom Buecher, who runs the Ft. Robinson Museum. Tom gave me great details on the topography of Northwest Nebraska and what the Indian wars were like there; heartfelt thanks to both of them.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, some applause for Tom Ewing, historian extraordinaire of the Society of American Magicians, who gave me the lowdown about magic shows of the late 19th century.
This tall tale couldn’t have been told without the help of the friends who gave the various drafts a peruse prior to publication: Pancho and Linda Carner; Ron Cohen and Lisa Moroz; Doreen Hardy; Beryl and Jeff Rosenstock; and Bruce Schimmel. A special thanks goes out to Denise Goren, who always reads my early efforts with the dedication of a book lover and the eye of a detective. Magic Words was written in loving memory of Denise’s husband, Steven Waxman, who died just before I began this story. Steve was a great lawyer and an even greater friend.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Photograph of Julius Meyer and Standing Bear courtesy of the Douglas County (Nebraska) Historical Society.
copyright © 2012 by Gerald Kolpan
interior design by Maria Fernandez
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