Thomas Alan Waters (also known as T.A. Waters) (1938–1998) was an American magician, writer about magic, and
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
author.
History
Born to Thurston Alan Waters and Pauline Ruth (Kunkle) Waters, T. A. Waters was a professional magician and magic author. He wrote several booklets on
mentalism
Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ ...
and bizarre magic which were later reassembled in his big book ''Mind, Myth & Magick'' (1993). At one point, he was the librarian at the Magic Castle, in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
Waters appears (thinly veiled as "Sir Thomas Leseaux", an expert on theoretical magic) as a character in the Lord Darcy
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
Michael Kurland's '' The Unicorn Girl'' (1969) (in which he also appears, even more thinly veiled, as "Tom Waters"). He himself wrote '' The Probability Pad'' (1970), a sequel to ''The Unicorn Girl''; these two novels, together with
Chester Anderson
Chester Valentine John Anderson (August 11, 1932 – April 11, 1991) was an American novelist, poet, and editor in the underground press.
Biography
Raised in Florida, he attended the University of Miami from 1952 to 1956, before becoming a ...
's earlier '' The Butterfly Kid'' (1967), make up the collaborative Greenwich Village Trilogy.
Published works
* ''The Psychedelic Spy'' (1967)
* ''Love that Spy!'' (1968)
* ''The Blackwood Cult'' (1968) (Lancer Books) (Magnum Books 73769)
* ''The Probability Pad'' (1970) (the third volume in the Greenwich Village Trilogy)
* ''Psychologistics'' (1971)
* ''Centerforce'' (1974)
* ''Deckalogue'' (1982)
* ''Cardiact'' (1984)
* ''The Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians'' (1988)
* ''Mind, Myth & Magick'' (1993)