The Great Merlini is a man of mystery in more ways than one. A fictional character in a series of mystery novels and short stories, he is a magician-detective who uses his knowl­edge of conjuring to solve impossible crimes. In real life he is Clayton Rawson, a writer, an editor of mystery fiction, a founder of Mystery Writers of America, and a member of the Society of American Magicians. He uses The Great Merlini as his pen name when he writes about magic and as his stage name when he performs. He has given hundreds of shows for young people and is the father of four children whom he saws in two, floats in mid-air, vanishes into thin air and re­produces from nowhere. One of them, Clayton, Jr., now oper­ates a rabbit and top hat of his own