When I was a boy I convinced my sister to take me to NYC to see The Magic Show at the Cort Theatre. When it was over I waited outside with other fans in a dark dirty alley with an iron gate for Doug to appear. He was an inspiration for me and for several years I was a magician as well. He was the bridge, the only one who could actually put some magic back into magic itself. He took away that old school Harry Blackstone Jr image of the magician and restored the mystery to illusion in a way that Siegrfried and Roy and later David Copperfield could never match. He put heart and soul and personality into the performance and didn't rely on flash or theatrics to carry his performance. He was the greatest magician of his generation and I will miss him dearly.
February 8, 2000 at 07:46 PM -0600