# RIP James Randi--the World has lost a Genius



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

"James Randi, a MacArthur award-winning magician who turned his formidable savvy to investigating claims of spoon bending, mind reading, fortunetelling, ghost whispering, water dowsing, faith healing, U.F.O. spotting and sundry varieties of bamboozlement, bunco, chicanery, flimflam, flummery, humbuggery, mountebankery, pettifoggery and out-and-out quacksalvery, as he quite often saw fit to call them, died on Tuesday at his home in Plantation, Fla. He was 92.

Mr. Randi’s death was announced by the James Randi Educational Foundation, which said he had died of “age-related causes.”

At once elfin and Mephistophelian, with a bushy white beard and piercing eyes, Mr. Randi — known professionally as the Amazing Randi — was a father of the modern skeptical movement. Much as the biologist and author Thomas Henry Huxley had done in the late 19th century (though with markedly more pizazz), he made it his mission to bring the world of scientific rationalism to laypeople.

What roiled his blood, and was the driving impetus of his existence, Mr. Randi often said, was pseudoscience, in all its immoral irrationality."

From the NYTimes....


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

He had a sense of humour as well, accompanied Alice Cooper on their "Billion Dollar Babies" tour in 1973, appearing on stage as the executioner. He also built some of the stage props, including the guillotine. God knows what he made of the band's extracurricular activities though...


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Roll of honor: recent deaths of notable non-classical musicians


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

*More from the NYTimes article on James ("The Amazing") Randi*

I recall both of Randi's big takedowns, of Popoff and Uri Geller, the latter takedown aided by amateur magician Johnny Carson. And to have a team of Randi, Carl Sagan, and Isaac Asimov! Rationality, Science, and Truth were uplifted in this astonishing trio.

"In 1976, with the astronomer Carl Sagan, the writer Isaac Asimov and others, Mr. Randi founded what is now the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Based in Amherst, N.Y., the organization promotes the scientific investigation of claims of the paranormal and publishes the magazine Skeptical Inquirer.

Though he was often called a debunker, Mr. Randi preferred the terms "skeptic" or "investigator."

"I never want to be referred to as a debunker," he told The Orlando Sentinel in 1991, "because that implies someone who says, 'This isn't so, and I'm going to prove it.' I don't go in with that attitude. I'm an investigator. I only expect to show that something is not likely."

In the course of his career, he investigated more than 100 people, including, memorably, Peter Popoff, a well-heeled self-described faith healer whom he exposed on "The Tonight Show." Mr. Randi was also known for his decades-long sparring match with Uri Geller, the professed mentalist known for his serial abuse of flatware."


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

James Randi was born in Toronto. He was a science prodigy, who as a youth spent a lot of time at the Royal Ontario Museum (now ROM).


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Here's the link to the NYTimes obit:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/...odule=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Obituaries


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## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

Psychic Already Sick Of Spectral James Randi Ragging On Her From Afterlife

MIAMI-Struggling to mentally close herself off from the recently deceased skeptic, local psychic Rosemary Shanley confirmed Thursday she was already sick of James Randi's specter haunting her place of business and ragging on her from the afterlife. "I'm sitting here with my crystal ball trying to see into the future, and it's hard enough without the ghost of James Randi hovering in front of me and whispering that I'm a fraud and a huckster," said Shanley, adding that she tried to banish the spirit of the famed debunker and stage magician by sprinkling holy water throughout the room, but the Amazing Randi just scoffed and called the ritual "easily disproved theatrics." "What's worse is that he's taken to appearing before my clients and showing them how he can do everything I can do using nothing more than simple trickery. I was impressed when he first showed up and appeared to roll a pencil across my desk using only his mind, but then he insisted it was basic misdirection and called me a dumbass for believing in psychic powers. That dude needs to get off my case and go heckle some other clairvoyant." At press time, sources from the beyond confirmed Randi had taken possession of Shanley's body and was attempting to locate Uri Geller.

https://entertainment.theonion.com/...YKzmf5DalPP1sCmlcNVm2i6jD3w0Wmsc6BcqdliKvf4xM


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Bwv 1080 said:


> Psychic Already Sick Of Spectral James Randi Ragging On Her From Afterlife


She can't handle Randi's specter? Any self-respecting psychic ought to be able to cook up a new potion. Eye of newt ...


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

Although I believe in Magick, I loved this old geezer...


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