"Fly On The Wall" A lovely chronicle from the mind of the great Pop Haydin

Did you ever wish you could be a "fly on the wall" when something very significant, perhaps very private, even magical was about to happen? Wouldn't it be special to witness history in the making? A rare event never to be repeated? An event that, save for you and perhaps a handful of other witnesses, would never be seen by anyone? Would become the stuff that legends are made of?

On September 4, 2006, I was that fly on the wall, blessed with the opportunity to survey a magical piece of history . . . a piece of magical history. As the 2006 Texas Association of Magicians convention drew to a close, two men met privately in the corner of the lounge at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dallas, Texas. One was an old master from a long way off. The other was younger. One had only a left arm . . . the right arm lost as a youth, the tragic result of an automobile accident. The other could not see . . . an equally tragic result of a childhood disease.

Both could handle playing cards in ways unimaginable to the mere mortals among us. On this day, it was the old master, the man with only one arm, who wished to savor the skills of the widely heralded younger man. They sat at a small round table, an interpreter between them, and the sharing of skills began. For thirty precious minutes, Richard Turner dealt seconds, bottoms, and centers; lost and found selected cards after allowing onlookers to shuffle, cut, and otherwise eliminate any chance of trickery; dealt winning poker and blackjack hands to himself or whichever other player the old master chose to be a winner. For those thirty precious minutes, Rene' Lavand, the man world-renowned for his skills and poetry in creating magical card miracles with one hand, sat thoroughly delighted at what he was seeing, repeatedly marveling at the skill on display. And for thirty precious minutes, Richard Turner relished this once-in-a-lifetime chance to share his abilities with the old master, his respect for Lavand obvious at the turn of every card.

As the session came to a close, Rene' softly confided, "Richard, you are fantastic. You see the cards with your soul. You are my other hand." Richard replied, "And you are my eyes," grasped the master by the hand, and kissed it reverently.

And the fly on the wall cried.