Lew Brooks passed away this past Tuesday. He was a bright, funny man whom I met after he moved to Northern Virginia from the Reno/Las Vegas area several years ago. Some of you may know about his lone publishing credit: "Stack Attack"

More than a keen magical mind, Lew was full of stories that were always engrossing...

• He was an avid skydiver and got married during a jump. His bride-to-be's parachute malfunctioned, which, if it had not gotten corrected, his marriage "would have been the shortest in recorded history" he would say with a smile
  
• He was a blackjack and craps dealer in Reno and Las Vegas and was always cooking up side games and figuring out how to rig the odds, including teaching me how to count cards in blackjack and even how to cheat at slots! He once figured out the casino's strategy for Keno was flawed and he proceeded to exploit that flaw to the tune of $10,000 in a couple of days! He alerted the casino to their error and they "fixed" the rules, but he called the episode, "The Great Keno Caper"
  
• He was a radioman in the Air Force, whose roommate at that time was counter-culture author Hunter S. Thompson. He had more than a couple of funny stories about the two of them back then. Lew used to say of him, "Back when I knew him, he wasn't 'Hunter S. Thompson', he was just 'Hunter'"
  

I could go on for pages, but I won't. He was endlessly interesting person, and he will be missed.

RIP, Lew.

Thanks for posting this, Steven. Like you, I'm heartbroken and devastated. I cannot even type this post without crying my eyes out. Lew was my world! I owe him so much!

I will miss him every single day, for the rest of my life.

Lee
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I didn't know Mr. Brooks, but I'm aware of him and his magic. R.I.P. Mr. Brooks

Sending positive thoughts to you as well, Lee....



Justin

I just watched his Stack Attack DVD a couple days ago, wonderful material.
What a great man, RIP Lew

I spent a lot of late night Wednesday evenings in Las Vegas with Lou after the Darwin Magic club. We would gather for dinner with Alan Ackerman, Looy Simonoff, Jason England, and many other wonderful magicians. I had 12 or 13 years of those nights.

Lew always spoke very fondly about those sessions. He had such admiration for all of you.