Could This Man Be The GODFATHER Of Memory Techniques Of The 20th & 21st Century?
(Seriously. The dude has memory courses on vinyl.)
Although memory training has been around for millennia, it has seen a huge resurgence in modern times. There are now countless books and materials about memory improvement, not to mention video courses, audio programs and, yes, resources like the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast.
But if there is one name who stands behind the explosion of mnemonics in the 20th and 21st century, that name is Harry Lorayne. Through his voluminous work as an author and presenter, Lorayne spawned and popularized the modern industry of memory training. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in terms of sheer visibility and quality, I think it's safe to say that Harry Lorayne is the Mnemonic Godfather of modern memory training.
How To Survive A Terrible Childhood And Create A Memorable Career
But the future didn't always look so promising for Lorayne. Judging from his childhood conditions during the depression-era, it seemed that the odds were firmly stacked against him.
"I had an awful childhood. I'm a depression kid." Lorayne shares in his 2012 interview with Michael Senoff. "I remember having a potato for dinner."
He was also affected with dyslexia, which he only identified as such years later. This learning disability caused him to struggle and fail while in grade school.
But Harry Lorayne's life took a different course when he discovered books on memory improvement. As he told me in the exclusive interview he gave for Masterclass members, he discovered memory techniques in a dramatic way and after learning these methods and drastically improving his grades, he started teaching his classmates on how they too could become memory masters.
From there, Harry Lorayne progressively became more and more successful. Lorayne has managed to emerge as one of the most famous and published magicians and memory experts of the century. Now in his late 80s, Lorayne is still at work teaching the world about memory, success and perseverance.
The Secret Ingredient That Made Harry Lorayne And His Memory Techniques Go Viral
Harry Lorayne was born of Jewish parents in 1926 in Manhattan's Lower East Side, right near the East River. Having come to the world only 3 short years before the Great Depression, Lorayne's childhood was spent in impoverished and difficult circumstances. Most everyone was poor, and Lorayne was amongst the poorest of the poor.
Poverty colored all aspects of Harry Lorayne's childhood, including his play. He recalls how with his childhood friends he would play in a garbage dump near where he lived. Lorayne recounts: "The garbage became a petrified hill. They were long, petrified mountains of garbage, and that was our playgrounds. That's what my friends and I played on when I was a little boy."
School also proved to be difficult Lorayne. Due to his undiagnosed dyslexia, Lorayne received failing grades as a young boy. To make matters worse, his father had a heavy-handed way of dealing with his son's school performance.
"I got the paper [test] home to my father to sign, and he would look at the failing grade, and he would punch me," remembers Lorayne "I was scared. Not of getting failing grades, but of getting hit by my father."
How Fear Created A Memory Solution That Would Help Millions Of People Improve Their Memory
Pushed to find a solution, a stroke of insight struck Lorayne one day on his walk to school. "I just realized that at that point in my life, all you had to do was remember
Published on 9 years, 9 months ago
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