Mark Edward Wilson, who was known by the stage name Mark Edward, died Sunday, August 4, 2024, at home after a years-long battle with prostate cancer. Edward was born May 19, 1951, in Los Angeles County to William Edward Wilson and Betty Jean Schaeffer. He was raised in Rancho Palos Verdes and lived in San Pedro until he moved to Salinas in 2019.

Edward graduated from Palos Verdes High School in 1970 then earned a bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts in 1974 from California Institute of the Arts. In his teenage years, Edward was in various Dada and punk bands, including Rat Salad, The Techno-Cats and ZaSu Pits, and the Enema Dog Review.

His grandfather, George Schaeffer, interested Edward in magic, which led to a lifelong career. Eventually becoming bored with standard magic, he then gravitated toward mentalism and educated animal acts and became a performer at Hollywood’s Magic Castle in 1975. He worked the Houdini Séance room for fourteen years and continued to perform mentalism at the Castle and elsewhere up until his death.

In 1990, Edward began working for the Psychic Friends Network and became one of their top psychics. All those years, he was also associated with the scientific skepticism community and used his behind-the-scenes knowledge to write his 2009 book, Psychic Blues: Confessions of a Conflicted Medium, exposing the secrets of the psychic world. Over the years, he was sought out for his expertise and appeared on Penn & Teller Bullshit!, The Con, Brain Games, Adam Ruins Everything, and many other shows.

Edward traveled the world, often with me, his partner, lecturing about the psychic world, demonstrating cold and hot reading to audiences, and warning about the dangers of mediumship. He coined the phrase “grief vampire” to describe mediums who prey on vulnerable people. Edward also wrote many books on séance theory and mentalism. He became involved in outing mediums in various ways, including in Operation Pizza Roll, which was featured in the New York Times in 2019. He was a member of the Monterey County Skeptics and AboutTimeProject.org. In 2022, he was honored as a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Edward also worked for the City of Los Angeles in Parks and Rec. His cancer was diagnosed in 2018, but because of science and great medical care, he was able to live a full and exciting life teaching and performing magic, lecturing, reading, traveling, and spending quality time with friends. He died at home, surrounded by people and animals who loved him. His death was very peaceful. Mark Edward is survived by my sons, Caspian (Jamie) and Stirling, and me, plus his chosen family of hundreds who honored and respected him.