Thursday, May 15, 2014
Harry Blackstone Jr Anniversary
17 Years Ago, on May 14th, I was at Dulles Airport with my friend Adam Ace. We were about to take a plane to Mexico for shows. Before the flight I stepped into one of the gift shops and saw the USA Today Newspaper. There on the cover, a photo of Harry Blackstone Jr. and the words 'Has Died'. WHAT? How could this be? Sad, but true.
I never got to meet Mr. Blackstone. I was on an elevator with him once but other 'fans' were kind of crowding him so I didn't join the pack. I also sat in front of him at a conference once, but he was deep conversation with his wife, so again, I didn't intrude.
Needless to say, his passing was somewhat of a shock to the magic world. I only added 'somewhat' because we all new he had been ill. He had what seemed like a sudden and drastic loss of weight and he didn't look well. I remember seeing him on the Miss America Pageant producing Regis Philbin from a tip-over trunk. It was the last time I'd see him on TV. He was gone a short time later.
Harry Blackstone Jr. was one of the GREATS! I'll write about him more at another time. But for now, we remember his passing 17 years ago.
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Thanks for this post, Dean. I met Blackstone on two occasions when I was younger, and he was as amazing of a person as he was a magician. Admittedly, I didn't actually know him well, but he made an impression on me that will last a lifetime. Here are a few of my memories of him: http://intervalmagic.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/harry-blackstone-jr-born-79-years-ago-today/
ReplyDeleteHow I missed this post is a mystery. Thanks, Dean. I have some fond memories of meeting him. I posted one of those memories on my blog. I find it hard to believe it's already been 36 years since my parents took me to see his cabaret act in Monroeville, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Pittsburgh). There will never be another performer quite like Harry.
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