Late in the evening of February 11th, I received the sad news of the passing of Scottish magic legend Patrick Page. It was an unpleasant task to share this with the magic community, but I have held back on posting anything on the Magic Newswire until I found a really nice piece from the Scottish media to post here. Today's Scotsman has a very nice retrospective on Pat entitled, "Final Page turns as Pat Page - the 'magician's magician' - completes his last trick."
He was the magician's magician. The man conjurors consulted for confidential advice on developing tricks, and his work still influences the profession today.
Yet if you were to mention the name of Scots-born Pat Page outside the secret world of illusionists, few would recognise it.
However, yesterday some of the biggest names in the industry paid tribute to the magician following his death at the age of 81.
Television magician Derren Brown described Mr Page as "a genius of our craft" and said he was "devastated" by the news of his death, while others said Mr Page's passing had "left a void in magic, that will be impossible to fill".