Jerry Slocum
Encyclopedia
Jerry Slocum is an American historian, collector and author specializing on the field of mechanical puzzle
s. Prior to retiring and dedicating his life to puzzle
s, he worked as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft. His personal puzzle collection, numbering over 40,000 mechanical puzzles and 4,500 books, is believed to be the world's largest.
Slocum's first book, Puzzles Old and New, published in 1986, was the first comprehensive book to include all types of mechanical puzzles with hundreds of color illustrations of antique puzzles. In the introduction Martin Gardner
predicted that the book would "remain a classic for decades."
In 1993, Slocum founded the Slocum Puzzle Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public on puzzles, through puzzle exhibitions, publications, communications, and collecting.
Slocum also founded the International Puzzle Party in 1978, an event dedicated to discussing, showing, and trading, mechanical puzzles. The first eight International Puzzle Parties were held in Slocum's Beverly Hills living room, and then evolved into an annual by-invitation-only event rotating between North America, Europe, and Asia.
Slocum has appeared on Johnny Carson
's Tonight Show, Martha Stewart Living
, and eight other nationwide TV shows.
In 2006, Slocum donated over 30,000 puzzles to the Lilly Library
at Indiana University, marking the first time a major collection of puzzles was made available in an academic setting.
Mechanical puzzle
A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces.- History :The oldest known mechanical puzzle comes from Greece and appeared in the 3rd century BC....
s. Prior to retiring and dedicating his life to puzzle
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
s, he worked as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft. His personal puzzle collection, numbering over 40,000 mechanical puzzles and 4,500 books, is believed to be the world's largest.
Slocum's first book, Puzzles Old and New, published in 1986, was the first comprehensive book to include all types of mechanical puzzles with hundreds of color illustrations of antique puzzles. In the introduction Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...
predicted that the book would "remain a classic for decades."
In 1993, Slocum founded the Slocum Puzzle Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public on puzzles, through puzzle exhibitions, publications, communications, and collecting.
Slocum also founded the International Puzzle Party in 1978, an event dedicated to discussing, showing, and trading, mechanical puzzles. The first eight International Puzzle Parties were held in Slocum's Beverly Hills living room, and then evolved into an annual by-invitation-only event rotating between North America, Europe, and Asia.
Slocum has appeared on Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
's Tonight Show, Martha Stewart Living
Martha Stewart Living
Martha Stewart Living is a magazine and a television show featuring entertaining and home decorating guru Martha Stewart. Both the magazine and the television program focus on the domestic arts. Martha Stewart Living began as a quarterly magazine in 1990, published by Time Inc..and is currently...
, and eight other nationwide TV shows.
In 2006, Slocum donated over 30,000 puzzles to the Lilly Library
Lilly Library
The Lilly Library, located on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is a large rare book and manuscript library in the United States.-History:...
at Indiana University, marking the first time a major collection of puzzles was made available in an academic setting.
Works
Slocum has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books on the topic of puzzles.- Puzzles Old and New, with Jack Botermans (1986)
- The Puzzle Arcade (1996)
- The Tangram Book, with Dieter Gebhardt, Jack Botermans, Monica Ma, Xiaohe Ma 2003 ISBN 1-4027-0413-5 Sterling Publishing Company (Comprehensive, illustrated history, 1,756 problem figures) beautiful photos of historic Tangrams from Asia, Europe and America
- The 15 Puzzle, with Dic Sonneveld, 2006 ISBN 1-890980-15-3 Slocum Puzzle Foundation.