WAYNE RAEKE

 Wayne Raeke
(1933 - 1998)
Born James W. Raeke, Wayne Raeke was a member of the Baltimore, Maryland Yogi Magic Club and part of the Baltimore magic scene through the 60's & 70's. He was a barber by trade, and did magic as a hobby, with the occasional show here and there. He was always working on new effects and routines.

In 1970 he was the manager of The Jokers Wild Magic Shop on Kenwood Ave. in the White Marsh area. The shop moved to Belair Road in 1972 and lasted until 1976. When the shop closed, Wayne moved to Houston, Texas and started a youth magic group, The Jokers Wild Junior Club. About that time his health started to fail and he ended up with spina bifida and in a wheel chair.

While he worked on and routined quite a number of magical effects for his students, the only thing that he really is known for was his Anytime, Anywhere, Linking Ropes, originally dated 1965, and then reprinted and republished in 1981 in its current form with Bill Palmer's editor's notes and illustrations.His contribution to magic is based on an obscure knot, known as the "Running Knot" and found in the 1919 Boy Scout Manual. It is of little use to anyone, but Wayne recognized its importance to the Linking Rope Routine that he was working on. Anyone who has tried it is amazed that he even discovered this use for such an obscure knot.

"Wayne blew me away with his version of  Four Way Coincidence by John Murray ( originally Preconfiguration by Larry Jennings) which I learned from J Mentzer's Card Cavalcade #3, which I still do this very day." 
-George A. Woo

A link to Mentzer's Card Cavalade # 3
http://archive.denisbehr.de/show.php?book=221