Lee had a love of magic for most of his life.  He gave his first magic performance at the age of 12 and I had the pleasure of being in the audience of family and friends gathered in his living room.  (I married the boy next door--some of you may have seen the pictures of our 'first' wedding.)

Taking time out to study his way through the doctoral program in English at Ohio University, and then to teach there, Lee never gave up magic.  He even performed on stage at Ohio University while a student there.  His path eventually led him to New York where he became friends with the great Henny Youngman and remained friends with him until Henny's death.

Lee returned to his roots in Pomeroy to help his ailing mother and that is when he began publishing books for magicians and mentalists, combining his love of magic and his knowledge of English.

Lee became fascinated with the beautiful posters of the early magicians and began collecting them.  He realized that the posters were becoming so expensive that most people could not afford them and would never be able to enjoy their beauty.  This realization gave birth to the idea of reproducing posters and he proceeded to reproduce the first magic poster-- Houdini's KING OF CARDS.  This idea did not catch on at first, but eventually reproductions became quite popular.  This may have been Lee's greatest contribution to the field of magic.  And he had always wanted to be remembered for this contribution.

Lee could be a little abrasive at times, but I have also seen a very soft side of him when he had helped people, especially the young and the very old, to acquire something they were wanting.  He was one of the most honest, and stubborn, people that I have ever know and I have the greatest respect for him in building a successful international business from scratch.  He will be missed by many people in the magic community.

His business will continue to operate as usual at this time (with the exception that I do not have his extensive knowledge of magic and will be a bit slower and unable to answer many questions).  My wish is that someone interested in magic would like to buy his business.  If you are that someone, please contact me by clicking HERE.

Ramona Compton (Mrs. Lee Jacobs)

You can read more about Lee in the 'Who's Who'area.