Memorable Manitobans: Melville Edward “Mel” Stover (1912-1999)

Magician.

Born at Winnipeg in 1912, he started doing magic tricks at the age of 10. He worked for 49 years as a technician in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. He became well known among magicians all over the world. Among the tricks attributed to him was the Stover Cut, also known as the Winnipeg Cut. His most famous trick was the Vanishing Leprechauns. For over 20 years he wrote a column on bridge for the Winnipeg Tribune, and he wrote articles on magic and puzzles for such magazines as Games, Omni, and Scientific American. He died of a heart attack at Los Angeles, California, while returning from a magic convention in Las Vegas, on 27 March 1999.

Sources:

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 6 April 1999.

“Magician’ mentor is gone but his magic tricks live on,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 April 1999, page A1.

“Their good works live after them,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 December 1999, page A9.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 11 March 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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