From 1959 to 1964, Montandon also published "The Collectors Bulletin,"  packed with information for collectors of magic and juggling materials. He also acquired the rights to the juggling material in Stanyon's "Magic Magazine," a British publication, and to Stanyon's booklet, "New Juggling Tricks," which he reprinted in 1978.

He has spent a lifetime scouring publications as diverse as "Jack and Jill," "Rogue," "Boy's Life," "Man's Magazine," "Scientific American," and 'Argosy" for references to juggling. His bibliography of juggling-related articles and publications is near-definitive.

Through his correspondence and his "Bulletin," Montandon set the stage for the founding of the IJA by providing the first cohesive forum for jugglers' communication. As early as 1944, he was calling for a "Juggler's Club of America," and was urging all jugglers to show up in force for the juggler's shows at magic conventions.

Montandon's contribution to the founding of the IJA cannot be overestimated. In his quiet way, he wove threads into the tapestry upon which others could build. As Bob Blau says, "Montandon must have been the first to activate interest in organized juggling when he started sending his plain newsletter free of charge to everybody that he knew who was interested in juggling."

And Art Jennings states emphatically that, "Without Montandon and his 'Juggler's Bulletin,'  it is doubtful that we would have ever gotten off the ground."

Upon helping to found the IJA in 1947, Montandon served as its first treasurer. After attending the first two conventions, however, he was rarely seen outside Oklahoma. Doug Couden once remarked that receiving a letter from Montandon was "bigger news than if he had bit a dog. "

His natural reticence, and his decision to cease publication of the "Bulletin," led to the general belief in the membership that a rift had occurred between Montandon and the IJA, the kind of rift that has so often occurred among prominent members throughout the IJA's history.

<--- Previous Page

Return to Main Index

Next Page --->