RIP Ricky Jay

I just saw the news that Ricky Jay died yesterday in LA of natural causes, age 72. He was best known as a magician and actor, but he was also a towering figure in the study of the odd, esoteric, and weird. His book Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women is an all-time classic of the genre. We've had it on permanent rotation in our sidebar list of recommended books for a while. It was first published in 1986, but I only discovered it in the early 1990s, when I was at grad school. I thought it was amazing. One of my favorite books ever. And I've been a huge fan of his ever since. He'll be missed!