Men (and women too) had tried. from chicago to
moscow. from gangster to emperor.
one remembers him jogging the russian racetrack.
plotting his break, beat by beat, from their steel-
lined siberian prison van.
like jonah he popped from a giant german fish! a
whale of a tale. but it’s true all true.
there were the open air straightjacket escapes that
made the entire south gasp.
he amazed the mighty Chinks by struggling from
their chinese water torture cell.
there were the dangerous underwater acts. when
failure meant a drowning death. yet he had no fear.
Smith/Houdini, 1974
THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT 
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