Meet one of our 2026 Patrons: Leon (Lon) Mandrake (1948-2026)

Lon Mandrake wore many hats.

Beloved husband, father of three, and a high school biology teacher for 34 years. As former head of the British Columbia Science Teachers’ Association, he co-founded its annual conference, Catalyst, back in 1990. It still runs to this day.

The eldest son of famed Mandrake the Magician, Lon grew up to be a successful mentalist and magician himself. He believed in using magic to spark an interest in science. “He would be so honored to be unanimously voted a Patron of Science World,” says Linda, his wife of 53 years. The pair met while studying at the University of British Columbia and, as Linda put it, she “had no background in magic at all.”

But that soon changed and for nearly four decades, husband and wife performed a popular double act at Science World over winter break. Each year, Lon would bring in a variety of magicians to showcase everything from stage illusions to close-up card effects. “What comes to mind is the size of the crowds,” says Linda fondly. Many times, extra staff needed to be called in to handle the lines which snaked out the door.

A lasting legacy

After a lifetime of inspiring wonder, Lon passed away earlier this year. Science World was honoured to hold a Celebration of Life ceremony for his family and friends. Among the 120 guests present were former students and fellow magicians, a testament to his far-reaching impact. They spoke of a man who was a unique combination of magic and science.

Unsurprisingly, Lon was many students’ favourite teacher. Linda shares the story of a group of eager boys who thought they were being helpful. “They had been hanging around the lab,” Linda laughs at the memory, “And they said, ‘Sir, do you want us to sharpen the bed of nails?’” Lon would use the prop to demonstrate the physics of pressure. “So anyway, they put each nail in a lathe and sharpened it to a needle point! And then they brought it back — the shop teacher had helped them do it — and asked Lon, ‘Did we do good, Sir? Are you pleased?’”

Lon being Lon, was fully game. “He ruined a pair of shoes at one point,” says Linda. “But he did it!”

In honour of Lon’s memory, local magician organizations have since pooled together to set up a scholarship at Seaquam Secondary School.

For years, Linda’s kitchen was a makeshift lab as Lon boiled cabbage water for classroom experiments, or made a cornstarch gloop to teach the principles of surface tension. He’d play the Three Shell Game with older kids to show that sometimes, the game is rigged, and one must learn to think for oneself.

“He wanted to teach the value of scientific method and critical thinking,” says Linda. She gives as example a joke he’d do on-stage with a glass of water. “He would say, ‘Now, put your finger in the water to make sure it isn't acid.’ And of course, the audience would roar with laughter because that was not [following the] scientific method at all.”

A sense of wonder

There is a video clip, played during Lon’s Celebration of Life, in which he stands at a podium and delivers a speech.

“What I found is when I put a little magic or mystery — it doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘magic’ but mystery and puzzles — into teaching, it became a lot more fun not only for me, but for my students,” he begins. “I started viewing the world around me more like a child might. You don’t get too cool to be excited about things. I still get excited about doing a water experiment, or static electricity, or electromagnetism. And it seems to be contagious; the students get it as well.

“Even though I’ve received a lot of awards for teaching, and some in magic, I think one of the—” Lon pauses to collect himself. He smiles and presses a hand to his chest before continuing, “I think one of the best rewards I’ve had is having students come back, years after graduation, and say that some of my classes were their favourite and most memorable classes.”

He ends by saying simply, “That gives me a very warm feeling inside, and makes me feel that putting out a sense of wonder is maybe a good thing.”