Patrick Page died on Thursday the 11th of February after a long illness. Tributes have begun to appear on the internet; Magicweek have a short article on him this week and social networks such as Facebook have had messages expressing the sadness felt at Page's death. Among those were messages by professional magicians such as John Lenahan, Ali Cook, John Archer, Pat Fallon, Paul Gordon and many others.A Facebook group called RIP Pat Page has been created and the number of members quickly went into hundreds. Some of the members knew Page as a colleague or friend; others, like myself, were inspired by his writings. Like a lot of people interested in magic I bought, as a child, his book The Big Book of Magic (which I still have). If I remember correctly, at the time it caused a bit of a grumble amongst some magicians because it revealed so many secrets to the general public. Page, I am told, was a quick wit ready with a funny remark for all occasions. One Facebooker related the memory of Page being in an audience watching a magician pulling a seemingly endless amount of flowers and other items out of a box. Page dryly remarked "I hope he finds what he's looking for."
I was deeply saddened by the news of Patrick Page's passing. He was pivotal in my return to magic. Although I never met him, through his books and DVD's he was my greatest mentor and inspiration. Mr. Page did it all and he did it all profoundly well.
ReplyDeleteSo long for now friend.