Robert Rodriguez

I was very saddened by the news of Robert’s passing. I had the pleasure of being one of Robert’s many friends for close to 30 years. We first met at Tom Ferranti’s Magic Shop in La Puente back in the early 80’s. I was immediately impressed by his skills with cards; I would often tease him about having an extra set of hands hidden somewhere because it didn’t seem possible that someone could be that good with cards using only

I was very saddened by the news of Robert’s passing. I had the pleasure of being one of Robert’s many friends for close to 30 years. We first met at Tom Ferranti’s Magic Shop in La Puente back in the early 80’s. I was immediately impressed by his skills with cards; I would often tease him about having an extra set of hands hidden somewhere because it didn’t seem possible that someone could be that good with cards using only two hands.

The first time I saw his stage act I was even more impressed. Robert’s stage presence was warm, friendly and ingratiating; of course this came as no surprise because Robert himself was warm, friendly and ingratiating. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word.

Robert enjoyed encouraging those who shared his love of magic. He would never hesitate to teach those who wanted to learn. He had an easy going teaching style and when he saw someone do a move that could use some improvement he would never criticize; he would simply say “That’s good, but you might try….” and then gently guide them to a better effect. He was also quick to complement a fellow magician when he enjoyed their performance.

I spent many hours at the magic shop talking with Robert; we'd not only discuss magic, but pretty much any other topic that came up. Robert was well traveled and very intelligent.

It had been quite awhile since we last spoke, but I'll never forget him or the times we spent hanging out.

It seems as time passes, people of Robert’s character and caliber are getting hard to find; and now with Robert gone, it’ll be even harder.

God Bless you Robert.

David Petersen