Harry Lorayne

Born in Manhattan in 1926 as Harry Ratzer, he became famous as Harry Lorayne, building a career as both a close-up magician and one of America's best-known memory teachers. He was widely recognized for live demonstrations in which he memorized names, numbers, and other details with astonishing speed.

Lorayne brought those skills to a broad audience through television and bestselling books. His classic The Memory Book, written with Jerry Lucas, became especially influential, and his earlier How to Develop a Super-Power Memory helped establish his reputation as a leading popularizer of memory techniques.

He was also deeply respected in the magic world for his card magic, teaching, and publishing. Lorayne died on April 7, 2023, at age 96, leaving behind a rare legacy in two fields at once: he entertained audiences with impossible-seeming performances and showed readers that better memory could be learned.