# Jerry Slocum > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jerry_Slocum > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jerry_Slocum.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Slocum > Source revision: 1306891721 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American historian, collector and author (born 1931)}} {{About|the author|the college basketball coach|Jerry Slocum (basketball)}} {{Infobox person | name = Jerry Slocum | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1931|07|05}} | birth_place = [Chicago, Illinois](/source/Chicago%2C_Illinois), U.S. | other_names = | known_for = Puzzle collector, author | education = | employer = | occupation = | title = | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = http://www.slocumpuzzles.com/ | footnotes = }} '''Jerry Slocum''' (born July 5, 1931) is an American historian, collector and author specializing on the field of [mechanical puzzle](/source/mechanical_puzzle)s. He worked as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft prior to retiring and dedicating his life to [puzzle](/source/puzzle)s. His personal puzzle collection, numbering over 40,000 mechanical puzzles and 4,500 books, is believed to be the world's largest. In 2006, the Association of Game & Puzzle Collectors awarded Slocum with the [Sam Loyd Award](/source/Sam_Loyd_Award).[http://www.agpc.org/index.php/awards/128-association-awards Association Awards: Sam Loyd Award] Association for Games & Puzzles International In 2006, Slocum donated over 30,000 puzzles to the [Lilly Library](/source/Lilly_Library) at [Indiana University](/source/Indiana_University_(Bloomington)): marking the first time a major collection of puzzles was made available in an academic setting.{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02EED7143FF936A15754C0A9609C8B63|title=Celebrating Puzzles, in 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 Moves (or So)|last=Wertheim|first=Margaret|date=July 25, 2006|accessdate=2007-10-23|work=New York Times|authorlink=Margaret Wertheim}} 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](/source/Martin_Gardner) predicted that the book would "remain a classic for decades." Slocum has appeared on ''[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson](/source/The_Tonight_Show_Starring_Johnny_Carson)'', ''[Martha Stewart Living](/source/Martha_Stewart_Living)'', and eight other nationwide TV shows. == Slocum Puzzle Foundation == In 1993, Slocum founded the Slocum Puzzle Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public on puzzles through puzzle collecting, exhibitions, publications, and communications. == International Puzzle Party == Slocum also founded the [International Puzzle Party](/source/Nob_Yoshigahara_Puzzle_Design_Competition) in 1978. The first eight International Puzzle Parties (an event dedicated to discussing, showing, and trading mechanical puzzles) were held in Slocum's [Beverly Hills](/source/Beverly_Hills) living room and evolved into an annual by-invitation-only event rotating between North America, Europe, and Asia."[https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/16/science/puzzle-party-slocum.html?unlocked%20article%20code=1.fk8.WLfK.FAe9hwPUuWOp&smid=url-share A Lifelong Party of ‘Puzzle-Making Tomfoolery’]" By Siobhan Roberts, [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times), Aug. 18, 2025 ==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) {{ISBN|0295965797}} * ''The Puzzle Arcade'' (1996) {{ISBN|157054056X}} * ''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. * ''The Cube: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Bestselling Puzzle'', with [David Singmaster](/source/David_Singmaster), [Wei-Hwa Huang](/source/Wei-Hwa_Huang), Dieter Gebhardt, Geert Hellings, and an introduction by [Ernő Rubik](/source/Ern%C5%91_Rubik), 2006 {{ISBN|978-1-57912-805-0}}, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc. Covers the history of the [Rubik's Cube](/source/Rubik's_Cube), with solutions to the 2x2 and 3x3 puzzles. ==See also== * [Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition](/source/Nob_Yoshigahara_Puzzle_Design_Competition) == References == {{Reflist}} ===Sources=== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050217063942/http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&styleType=tvradio&catid=cat7014&id=tvs6988 Appearance on Martha Stewart Living] ==External links== * [http://www.slocumpuzzles.com The Slocum Puzzle web site] * [http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/slocum/ The Jerry Slocum Mechanical Puzzle Collection Online] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Slocum, Jerry}} Category:1931 births Category:Living people Category:Puzzle designers Category:American art collectors Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:Recreational mathematicians Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:21st-century American male writers Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers Category:Writers from Chicago --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jerry Slocum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Slocum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Slocum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.