Michael Claxton, Ph.D.

I have taught at Harding since 2003 and teach classes in Composition, World Literature, British Literature, and Shakespeare. I co-sponsor Harding's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta and Souvenirs, our poetry club. Each week I write a column titled "Just the Clax" for our campus newspaper, The Bison and have done so for 18 years, reaching 300 columns in 2024. I have enjoyed collaborating with the Department of Theatre on Pirates!!! A Pillaging of Gilbert and Sullivan (writer, 2013), Checkon Chekhov (writer, 2019), Mary Poppins (actor, 2023) and The Importance of Being Earnest (writer, 2024).

 

In 2014, I published Don't Fool Yourself: The Magical Life of Dell O'Dell; it's a biography of a pioneering female magician. I'm currently working on a book titled David Price, Paul McWilliams, and the Fight to Save Magic, a dual biography of two Nashville magicians and the creation of the famous Egyptian Hall Museum of Magic. In 2023, Magicana.com released two online exhibitions that I created with Julie Eng: "A Celestial Celebration" tribute to women in magic and "Moments of a Magicienne's Life: Dell O'Dell." I have written articles, book reviews, and convention reviews in these publications: The Linking Ring, Magicol, Genii, MAGIC, and The Yankee Magic Collector. These projects capture my primary research interest: the true stories of stage magicians in history.