[NOTES ON A STRANGE WORLD MASSIMO POLIDORO Massimo Polidoro is an investigator of the paranormal, lecturer, and cofounder and head of CICAP, the Italian skeptics group. His website is at www.massimopolidoro.com.
The Amazing Randi Story: Why James Randi Deserves a Biography
ith the completion of An ward the realization of such a work, Honest Liar, the movie asked me to take over and actually Wdirected by Justin Weinstein write the book. and Tyler Measom, James Randi’s I had the privilege of being Randi’s incredible life story is receiving some apprentice in 1989 and 1990. I lived at well-deserved attention. After open- his house for over a year and we have ing to rave reviews at the Tribeca shared investigations, adventures, Film Festival, the film now continues research, and, above all, a profound to wow audiences. It recently won the friendship that goes beyond mentor Best Documentary Award at multiple and apprentice. festivals as well as being an audience favorite. The movie will be distributed A movie only has an in theatres across America this fall and then it will probably go abroad. hour and a half to give If you still haven’t done so, grab the you a glimpse, chance to see it as soon as you can. however well done In this exciting, surprising, and often touching movie, Randi and some time. The original idea belongs and complete, some of the other characters in his to Penn Jillette, of the magic duo into the life of an life—from his longtime partner Deyvi Penn & Teller, who in 2005 was able Peña to arch-nemesis Uri Geller— to convince Randi that a biography extraordinary person share their memories. Though a lot of his life was needed. Jillette started like Randi. is revealed through recent and archi- interviewing him and then involved val footage, there is still much more Kim Scheinberg, who spent several to tell. years searching for people and stories, I consider Randi almost as a sec- It could not be otherwise, for a lost documents and long-forgotten ond father. We never lost touch and movie only has an hour and a half to clippings. This resulted in hundreds we visit each other frequently. He give you a glimpse, however well done of hours of interviews with Randi and even flew all the way to Italy to attend and complete, into the life of an ex- hundreds more with friends and foes my wedding, one of his many gifts traordinary person like Randi. What going back more than sixty years. that I will never forget. Furthermore, is needed now is a complete biography By 2010, the volume of research being a fan as well of Randi’s exploits, devoted to James Randi’s life. was overwhelming. Both Randi and I too have collected lots of in-depth The good news is that the work Peña, along with his other friends and research and material on his work for for what promises to be a lengthy and supporters who have invested time the past twenty-five years. But, apart engaging book has been underway for and money for the past few years to- from all of this and from my role in
Skeptical Inquirer | September/October 2014 21 This, then, is the situation at the moment of writing these notes. I have announced at the Amazing Meeting in July that I have started working on Randi’s biography. Kim will share the credit with me and Penn will write an introduction. We still haven’t looked for a publisher, though, and the goal is to find one by the end of the year. If anyone reading this is a publisher or knows someone who works in the publishing business, this is the mo- ment to think about getting the rights for this book. However, until then, since I make my living from my writing, I can only James (The Amazing) Randi and author/investigator Massimo Polidoro. devote so much time to the project until we find a way to sponsor my work. One possibility is to launch a fundraising campaign through some the skeptics’ movement, the main rea- This is why, during the past year, I crowd-funding website. Another one son for which I was asked to take over have started going through the material is to sell single parts of the book, as the actual writing of the book is that, that Kim Scheinberg and Penn Jillette soon as they are ready, on Amazon after returning to Italy in 1990, I be- collected and generously shared with through the Kindle Direct Publishing came a professional writer. me. I spent engaging time in New York system. I have published over forty books with Kim and, while there, I was also There is still time to decide how to since then, many of which have been given access by Justin Weinstein to the proceed, and things may mature soon. translated in different languages, and research material that he and his col- In the meantime, if you want to re- at least two I wrote directly in English leagues had put together for the movie. ceive news, sample chapters, and other for Prometheus Books. This means I also spent time again in Florida, material related to the biography, you that I have both a deep knowledge of going on for days with Randi, through can send me an email at massimopo- the subject and the tools for turning piles of documents, old photos and [email protected]. I will keep you ■ the book idea into a reality. clippings, and recording everything. updated.
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22 Volume 38 Issue 5 | Skeptical Inquirer