I only knew Peter from meeting him at the Cape Cod Conclave's. First meeting had me thinking "What's with this guy?" but as I got to know him I found out that it was only a front. He was a great guy and when a friend and I helped him move his booth back to his car at the end of the convention, he was truly grateful. I always admired him for snaring a wife as devoted as Cynthia. A truly lucky and lovable man. He will be missed. And Cynthia, I am sure he has tons of friends will to give you comfort through this dark time.

Jim Canaday

Goodbye "my brother from another mother"....I will miss hearing you say that to me and I to you. My heart goes out to Cynthia who made much of the magic for the two of them happen.

Thank you for everything my friend. You will be missed.

Dame,this SUCKS. First Hank Moorehouse now Peter. Two major loses in less then 2 months. Both a mentor and a friend. Peter would call me several times a year just to say hello and talk about things other then magic. Like Richard said "if Peter liked you, he would teach and give you anything you wanted."

Peter had a way of telling you things that NO OTHER would or could do. If he thought or heard you did something he felt was wrong, you would hear about it. That was Peter's way of telling you he cares about you.

I will miss his wisdom and friendship.May he REST IN PEACE and please keep Cynthia in your prayers.

Mike Miller

Last time I saw Peter was in 2002 at Tannen's Jubilee. He had a beautiful tied dyed 6 foot silk he wanted me to buy. I had no immediate use for it, but he made me such a good price, I couldn't resist. He had a lot of great stories and we had quite a few laughs over the weekend. Thanks Peter.

John

R.I.P. Peter.

:(

Regan

Sorry to hear this.

I love using his Streamer in almost every Stand-Up Show. His work will live on.

Mary Mowder

My heart is heavy with the passing of Pete White. He truly was one of a kind, a no frills kind of guy. He told it like it was whether you liked it or not. We spent many a magic convention talking and laughing. I will truly miss him and offer my condolences to Cynthia. See you on the other side Peter, take care my friend.

I, too, am in shock. Condolences to Cynthia. I talked with Peter on occasion, loved his products and his honesty. My wife actually sat through his entire lecture (or until they ran us out of the hall after 3 hours) which is unheard of. That speaks highly of him. He will be missed.

Steve

I am just now learning of Peter's passing, and I am very saddened. Peter was a great teacher to me as I first came into magic, and I learned much from him. As a young magician with a silk act, his input and support was invaluable. Many of the silks in my act were his works of art, and the rest were handmade by my grandmother, whom he also helped guide. He was a wealth of knowledge, and the silks he created were on par with the finest of Rice. I'm grateful to have known and learned from him. My condolences to his lovely wife Cynthia.

We will miss him in October at Metro Magic, RIP

Ive just discoverd this thread, and I feel that I have to add my condolences to the ones above.
I was lucky enough to meet Peter twice, the first time being at a convention here in the UK, where he presented his wonderfull talk on silk fountains.
I recall his answer to one particular question with crystal clarity. " so, if I produced that big fountain, and then I reach in and produce your largest butterfly silk, what could I do to follow?"With a smile Peter said...." You take your bow, turn, and walk off stage" . A true genius in his field. And that field's getting smaller, and smaller.

D.

I also just discovered this thread. I am shocked and saddened. I met Peter through working in a booth next to him at Magi-Fest in Columbus. In reading all of the condolences, I realized for the first time that Peter did not treat me special, he just made it feel that way. He obviously treated everyone the same and made anyone he came in contact with feel the same.

I read one post where he would mail silks to the person and just tell them to pay later. A couple years ago, I lost most of my equipment out the back of my truck. I lost a P&A silk and there was NOTHING on the market that was even close. After going through Joe Mogar, I was able to get a message to Peter and he called me almost immediately. I told him what I needed and it was in my mailbox 2 days later with a note to just send him a check "whenever". We must have talked for over an hour that day since we hadn't seen each other for a few years. I read a post about the quality. Unsurpassed. When I lost my P&A, I had to replace it with P&A. Nothing else would suffice.

Peter was a different kind of guy and that made him that more interesting. I hope Cynthia and his family can find solace in the friendships and the magic he created.

RIP my friend.

I just saw this. Peter was a great guy and understood quality. He will be missed, sympathies to his family and friends.

I am saddened. I have one great memory of Peter. It was at the Cape Cod Conclave a few years back. We were outside having a smoke, a few of us and of course Peter was there. I was showing a card effect to a few guys and he was impressed enough to ask to see it again and then we started talking. The subject turned to silks, of course. I did not know who he really was at the time. I mentioned that I was fond of silk magic but never had a chance to learn any. He told me to stop by his booth later. After the next lectures I went to find him in the dealer room. I walked over and he reached behind the table and handed me about 8 of his video tapes. I told him I could not purchase that much since I had already spent most of my allowance. He said, "Don't worry about it, just send me some money when you can". Then he told me what silks I needed to practice most of what was on the tapes. I think I bought two red, a blue and some fake knots. He gave me a deal on those, too. Very contrary to his gruff seeming exterior. I wish I could have known him better.

...and yes, I did send him the money when I was able to.

Pete was a very good friend of mine during the late 70's and early 80's until I moved to Florida when we lost contact. I met him at a SAM meeting in Danbury, Ct. where he was pitching his early tie dyes. I spent many days at his house by the lake in Connecticut with his family, his drooling Saint Bernard and a slew of magic props, sewing machines, rolls of silk, colorful vats of dye, train sets(Pete was an avid collector) and musical instruments(Pete was a music teacher at the time).

I was a graphic designer so I designed his logo. The P was for his son Peter, Jr. and the A was for his daughter Amanda. I talked to Pete about producing some silk screened items to compliment his beautiful hand-dyed silks. This was the birth of the P&A DesignSilks which were a sellout at Tannen's Jubilee. We printed them four up on 36" wide rolls and cut them to produce 4-18" silks. He was very fussy and spent many hours perfecting the hems. I then did the artwork for some 36" silks including the Happy Clown and Laser Circle. The following year at the Jubilee I noticed that there was a booth run by a couple of Japanese dealers who had taken the designs and copied them. I was very upset as I ran over and told Pete. He didn't seem too concerned. All he said was "They'll never match P&A quality". He just let it slide. That was Pete.

I remember well when we would go into The Big Apple, buy silk and go to the screen printer, then Tannen's. Pete would say "Let's get a slice" and we would run into a pizza joint for lunch. He had more energy than anyone I have ever known. I don't think he ever slept.

He introduced me to Lance Burton and Mac King whom spent the night at Pete's while on the way to Tannen's Jubilee which launched their careers after Lance got his gig on Carson. They pulled into Pete's driveway in an old, beatup station wagon with all of their worldly possessions. The four of us spent the night stuffing envelopes with DesignSilks and filling orders.

(Pete was good at puting people to work. I remember once when he did his stage show for a Catholic school. One of his assistants was a young girl from the school where Pete taught music. She had a sequened spandex band around her bust and when she popped out of the production trunk, her top got caught and she jumped up with her boobies popping out. Boy, was she embaressed, but you should have seen the look on the nuns faces who were sitting in the audience! Janet Jackson- Pete beat you to it! Priceless!)

Lance did card productions which completely fooled me and Mac showed me a sponge ball trick using an eye dropper. I forget the name of the effect. Two of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. I also met Walter Gibson, Tom Ogden and MagicIan through Pete. He seemed to know everone in magic.

One time he showed me an order from Edwin at Supreme Magic in England. It was for 200 DesignSilks as I remember. Pete wanted to ship them out unpaid and I suggested with an order that large that he at least get a deposit. Pete didn't listen. He was very trusting and shipped the silks. Then Edwin told him that he had the exclusive rights to produce "Carnival Ribbons" and that Pete was manufacturing these and he wouldn't pay him for the order unless he stopped. Pete told Edwin he wouldn't make them anymore, so one day a fat envelope arrives and out pours 30 Fifty dollar bills american. It wasn't even insured. Lot's of great memories.

I still have the stained glass hot air balloon that he gave me as a wedding gift. It's hanging in the window of my main hallway and everytime I look at it I think of Pete and the wonderful times we had. I believe he had a photographic memory. He would learn an effect and never practice, but two years later he would perform it flawlessly. He was a good man with special talents and now he's up there with all the other magic lovers that have gone before him explaining how to properly fold the silk fountain.

Rest in peace my friend, you have touched many lives including my own. You are gone now but not forgotten. May the magic that you have created live on in eternity.

My heartfelt support to Pete's wife Cynthia for her loving support and putting up with Pete all those years. She changed his life. I can tell she is a great lady even though I have never had the pleasure of meeting her. My own wife has cancer now and I know how much love and caring it takes to cope with this insidious desease. Bless you. Pete was very fortunate to meet you in his journey through life.
May your future be peaceful and content.

Love,
Ray Lucas

I'm very sorry to hear about this. I was lucky enough to meet Peter in 2008. He was very kind, yes he was! and encouraged me to charge more for my show. I really appreciated that coming from someone like him, absolutely. He did confide at the time that he was diabetic, which I was sorry to hear. Very best wishes to his family and friends. He seemed a great friend of magic and magicians.



Laurie

Look out Big World, Sometime ago I spent a long session with a great man whom I admire, along with his wife. I'm Grass Hopper #1. As a student, I learned the principles of magic from a true master. He had the energy and enthusiasm of a man half his age. He was known as a walking encxyclopedia of magic. His knowledge of misdirection and showmanship, on and off the stage in the art of teahing and preforming pure magic was second to none. From the dye tube,to silk manipulation. From billiard ball and silk manipulation to dove manipulation. Few, may have knowed him as "Sensei". He taught Grass Hopper #1, and taught him well. As I learned from Sensei and Cynthia, I learned well. Peter and Cynthia White are experts in the art of silk magic and magic act development. Persistance and countless hours of their time to training grass hopper #1, and a select few, will not go unnoticed, and is priceless. He said perfect practice makes perfect. Peter & Cynthia taught pure sleight of hand with real class. Sensei taught that it would take, and required subtantial practice time to master all the moves in each routine of the act, in order to have it flow smoothly. It has taken many years of practice time and discipline to understanding what he already knew. Peter W. White and Cynthia White are enshrined in my own private Hall of Fame. Both are a national tresure to magic. Ladies and Gentlemen, always remember...The Magic of Peter White.