Did you know that Houdini has a marker in a special section of the
Brooklyn Botanical Garden honoring famous residents of the borough? This is great, except it's pushing it somewhat to call Houdini a Brooklynite. Houdini's residency consisted of three years when he and Bess
lived with the Hardeens in their Flatbush home. But we'll take it!
Of course, in the 2014
Houdini Miniseries, writer Nicholas Meyer placed 278 in Brooklyn for reasons I still don't understand. Maybe he did all his research in the Botanical Garden? That would explain a few things. (Yes, I'm still
not over it.)
Thanks to Tom Frueh and KC Wright for this one.
Related:
Ironic that the last "i" in "Houdini" appears partly rubbed-away/faded (is it actually physically faded, or just the perspective of the photo?)...I'd like to think that its sort of a (un)intentional tribute to Ehrich's namesake: "Houdin". ?
ReplyDeleteNow that I think of it, a stone like this wouldn't be out of place in the garden behind 278!
ReplyDeleteOr maybe even this very one! Let's go Lucy and Ethel it.
DeleteHa! I'm game!
DeleteThese facts about the "Houdini" leaf was mentioned in my 1994 book, "Benjilini on Houdini." I found out about it at that time. Benjilini
ReplyDeleteAh, sorry, I didn't remember that. It been there a while then!
Delete