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‘By The New York Times Four years ago, Richard Baker of ‘Gatlinburg, Tenn., set out on a treas ure hunt based on a puzzle that had promised to bring the winner $500,000 ‘and a miniature golden ‘horse., Baker crisscrossed the country, from Meridian, Miss., to Santa Claus, Ind., working full time on the puzzle and taking odd jobs. The contest ended on May 26. And Baker, wdomite his efforts, was $4,000 poorer. He ‘was. Not atone. Tens of ‘thousands of people bought the clues to the puzzle. We were Included in a book and and a video, both called “Treasure.” But the contest had gone awry. No one was able to solve the puzzle and ‘collect the prize. Over the last two months, treasure hunters in Minnesota, ‘Michigan and ‘elsewhere said they had complained ‘to their state attorney general's of fices, saying the contest could not be “golved. Publishing, ‘executives ‘said’ the “complaints could dampen sales, of future: treasure-hunt, books ‘and videos. “The golden horse could very well ‘kill ‘the entire phenomenon,” said ‘Jim Williams, ‘editor of ‘Treasure magazine. The treasure-hunt promotions peaked with two best sellers publish ed in the early 1980s, ‘‘Mas querade,” by Kit Williams, which offered $35,000‘ to the finder of a golden hare, and “Who Killed the Robins Family”, by Bill Adler and Thomas Chastain, which offered $10,000 to the reader who submitted the best answer to their puzzle. Both books sold more than a million copies each. ‘While there are no industry fig ures, said John Baker, editor of Pub Jigher’s Weekly none of the approxi mately” 10‘ books and videos since 1982 have matched the success of the first two. “The idea worked well, but it only worked once,’’ said’ Lawrence Hughes, chairman, of Hearst ‘Trade Book Group. “Treasure” was conceived in 1982 when Sheldon Renan, a Los Angeles film maker, teamed up with Paul Hoffman, also known as Dr. Cryp ton, an editor at Discover magazine ‘and a puzzle writer, to write and film a story about a young girl’s quest to find a horse named The Treasure. A series of clues were hidden in the story that pointed to a specific site in the United States. There, a horse made of gold was buried.
Newspaper Details
Independent
Gallup, New Mexico, US
Tue, Aug 22, 1989
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Suzy S.
