Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes an a

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Bill McIlhany
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Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes an a

Postby Bill McIlhany » January 12th, 2011, 3:55 pm

Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes an anonymous, slanderous and threatening letter to someone who knew him very well.

A week before the Grievance Committee met on December 11, Cowley dumped 4 long documents on the committee. I answered three of these at length and these answers were posted on Genii Forum. The fourth document Cowley, so he said at the time, decided not to submit to the committee since it was totally irrelevant to the issues before the committee. It was part of a 2007 court decision in a long legal battle I successfully fought to stop a con artist from stealing the estate of my friend Harrison Baker. I have detailed all of this at:

Part 1: http://www.theattorneysforum.com/person ... t-1-a.html

Part 2: http://www.theattorneysforum.com/person ... t-2-a.html

Cowley was preparing to give this to the committee just to smear me. When he said he decided not to do that, I did not give the committee my reply which included an unsolicited e-mail I received from a magician in Pennsylvania, Joe Keppel, who knew Cowley very well since he was a teenager.

I did not post Keppel's e-mail on Genii Forum or anywhere else on line.

In late December I received a call from Joe Keppel about an anonymous letter he received which obviously came from Cowley but was deceitfully signed "Las Vegas magicians." Cowley also sent him a copy of part of the court ruling from 2007 and made blatantly false and slanderous statements about the ruling and me in his "Las Vegas magicians" letter. Cowley also mailed the same partial Collins ruling to Genii magazine with the apparent hope of it being posted on Genii Forum! I asked Keppel to send me the letter he received.

Keppell's cover letter to me:

Bill,

Here is the letter I received on Christmas eve. The dozen magicians I showed it to all believe that Cowley wrote it himself. I can see by the comment he made it still rankles him 30 years later that he wasn't elected president of our ring.

If not for the one statement he made ("was that before he ran out of money") I would have laughed this off. But that statement really pisses me off. The years I knew him myself and many other members of the ring paid for his dinners, drove him to magic events, gave him a place to stay, etc. etc .. At times he was close to homeless .. I can't even remember all the times my parents gave him money for food or to spend at conventions and he besmirches their memory by saying I was his friend until he ran out of money? I have a dozen magicians here in eastern pa that will back up' ANY part of my story.
In the years he lived out here there wasn't a friend, or family member or business partner that he didn't treat badly.
That he would be a coward and write me anonymously was no surprise to me or to any of the people I showed the letter to. And to sign it "The
Las Vegas Magicians" and say I was not welcome in either Las Vegas or The Castle seems ludicrous to me.

Joe

PS.. I'd appreciate note when you receive this, thanks

Here is the e-mail I received from Keppel on October 30, 2010:

Dear Bill,

My name is Joe Keppel. I am a professional magician outside of Philly in Bethlehem, Pa and twice President of IBM Ring #32. Rich Cowley was born and raised in my area and I knew him starting at around his age being 15.
For most of his early life he shuttled between various relatives because he didn't seem to be able to get along with anyone. For several years I truly considered him among my closest friends. He was a free spirit and pretty much of a hippy. He was constantly broke and my parents often gave him money so he could attend magic conventions.
Cowley hadtiffs with almost everyone and when he left here to go to the west coast he told us he was tired of our "Easy Coast Attitudes". I guess now he doesn't like "West Coast Attitudes" either. Please do us a favor, keep him out there and dont send him back. Our Ring had the policy of starting people off in officer positions and working their way up the ladder from Sec, to Treas, to VP to President. Only once in the 39 years I have been a member of this organization did a VP not get the nod to be President. You guessed it, that's when Cowley was Vice President. No one could stand the thought of him as President.Cowley was a fair weather friend and whenever he was through getting what he wanted from you he moved on. There are a half a dozen of so of us out here who let him sleep on their couches when he had no place to go (including one local member who put him up after Cowleys wife kicked him out the night after he got arrested for picking up am undercover police woman he thought was a hooker) and yet after none of us hearing ANYTHING from him in over 10 years he had the nerve to write us when he first performed at the castle and ask us to fly out to witness his act. (the freeloader included the comment (there's a nice motel you can stay at right next door). I won't go on, although I could, cause there are PLENTY of Cowley stories. Rest assured you have the sympathy of a lot of east coast magicians.

Again, please keep him out west, Lol

Yours in Magic,

Joe Keppel


Postmarked in Santa Clarita, CA, and bearing the return address of 321 No. Green Valley Parkway, Henderson, NV 89014, here is the letter Keppel received:

December 13, 2010

Mr. Keppel:

We would like to respond to your letter written in support of Mr. Mcllhany and posted on the internet resulting in an interesting discussion here in Las Vegas last week when it was passed around among magicians attending the I.B.M. Ring 257 tribute to the Magic Castle Larsen family.

The first response, really a question, was why would a fellow member of the magic fraternity write such a mean-spirited letter berating another magician, digging up dirt from his past and smearing his name going back to when he was just 15 years old. Another magician suggested the next time you attend your I.B.M. Ring 32 you ask Steve Levine, or someone there, what the "B" stands for in our organization I.B.M. You stated that you "truly considered him (Rich Cowley) among my closest friends. Really? Was that before he ran out of money?

We all wondered just who is Joe Keppel and why is he so supportive of Mr. McIlhany. Are you aware that all the members of the Magic Castle Ethics Committee, not just Rich Cowley, headed by a lawyer, made the decision to bring Mr. McIlhany in front of their committee to determine what happened to all the rare film footage, video tapes and DVD's that disappeared during the time he and James Starr were taking them out of the Magic Castle Video Library to make copies. Many of the originals and copies were never returned to the Castle library shelves. Remember, these were donated to the Castle by magicians and their families for the all members to view, now and in the future.

Another interesting question came up. Is Joe Keppel, back on the east coast in Bethlehem, qualified and knowledgeable to write about the operating decisions made at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, and when and how did he become so informed that it is his business to write on the Genii Forum in the first place? Interesting question.

Another point was made. Mr. Keppel is obviously unaware of the contributions and volunteer work that Rich Cowley has freely given to the Castle over the past five years. Mr. Cowley and his wife spent many days cataloging every book, magazine, lecture notes, DVD, etc., in the library on the computer. Let me repeat, they donated their time freely for this massive project, so that the librarian, members and visiting magicians have easy access to any magical information or history they may want.

We were also told that for years, any magician who requested a performance video DVD during their appearance in any of the showrooms of the Magic Castle, it was Rich Cowley behind the camera filming their act. Once again, Rich donated his expertise for this project, and did an excellent job. Free!

So, Joe Keppel, what have you contributed to your I.B.M. Ring 32 lately? Oh yes, you "presented a cute joke which had members chuckling."

To quote your letter "I won't go on, although I could, cause there are PLENTY of Cowley stories." Yes, the Magic Castle members are thankful that Mr. Cowley became a member. So thankful, that the members overwhelmingly voted him to serve as one of their Board of Directors, a position he holds today. Oh I forgot, "he didn't get a nod to be President of Ring 32 back in Allentown." Instead you and your members don't want to believe a person can change their lives around and have a second chance in life. I don't even want to hear your take on Jonathon Pendragon.

Well Joe, you have the sympathy of alot of west coast magicians for distributing your hateful letter filled with nasty remarks. Please do us magicians on the west coast a favor. Don't ever think of visiting Las Vegas or the Magic Castle, let alone try getting booked there. No one wants to see your name on the performance schedule. Stay back in Bethlehem. Perform for Kate Plus Eight in Wernersville and blow up ballons (sp) for the kids in Kutztown, and keep telling those cute jokes at Ring 32 in Allentown.

Las Vegas Magicians

P.S. No one seems to know what your relationship with Mr. McIlhany really is, or how well you know his background. We have asked a lawyer friend in Los Angeles to enclose copies of some of the pages from the lawsuit McIlhany was involved in for years, when he changed a friend's will while he was medicated and dying in the hospital, giving the man's estate all to himself. That's the person you wrote such a nice letter for. You'll enjoy reading those legal papers, and might even consider sending an apology to Mr. Cowley some day.

My comments:

This letter refers to things only known to Keppel and Cowley, making very clear that Cowley wrote it. He recklessly and falsely slanders me regarding my friend's will and estate and the years of work Jim Starr and I donated to achive and catalog and digitally preserve the Castle Video Library. He falsely claims credit for things at the Magic Castle. For example, there is the fact that both Ray Pierce and Jim Starr were taping performers there for over a decade before anyone ever heard of Cowley.

But the ultimate evidence of Cowley's enormous arrogance and gradiose and paranoid delusions is the fact that he warns Keppel never to come to Las Vegas or the Magic Castle!

Cowley also demonstrated his cowardly tactic of attacking with an anonymous letter, just as he did when he wrote a threatening letter to Jim Starr and me in 2008 and 2010, signed by our friend, Castle manager Mark Felicetti!

With Joe Keppel's permission, I am sending this letter to the Grievance committee and the Board of the AMA, since they need to deal with Cowley's ugly, vindictive arrogant and reckless behavior. In the first part of the Grievance hearing on December 11, it was clear that the committee members had NO time to read the huge pile of documents that had accumulated and which were dropped in their lap that day. Only those committee members who read my postings on Genii Forum avoided being "in the dark" where Cowley admitted he wanted them to be. They will not have time to read carefully this letter in the second part of the hearing on January 22. That is the only reason why I am posting it here.
Last edited by Bill McIlhany on January 12th, 2011, 4:05 pm, edited 0 times in total.
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JKeppel
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Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes an a

Postby JKeppel » January 12th, 2011, 9:45 pm

To all concerned. I was very disappointed to receive such a nasty anonymous letter in the mail on Christmas eve. If not for the one statement,that I was Cowleys friend until the money ran out, I would have laughed it off and forgot about it. But for him to besmirch my parents memory after all they did for him was too much for me. HOWEVER, I do apologize for the letter showing up here. Mr. McIlhanny asked me to see a copy and I sent it to him. He called me last week and asked my permission to show it to the board members of the castle. He told me that he would ONLY show it to them. That he would post it here is certainly a betrayal of my trust in him.

Bill McIlhany
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Joined: October 28th, 2010, 2:15 pm

Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes an a

Postby Bill McIlhany » January 12th, 2011, 10:38 pm

Dear Joe,

I am sorry you feel this way. You told me you agreed that the anonymous letter from Cowley which understandably upset you so much on Christmas Eve should be shown to the AMA Board and the Grievance Committee. If it were simply handed to the committee members on January 22, they would NOT have time to read or understand it before part two of the hearing. I did NOT say Board members only. They could not understand the letter Cowley wrote to you without the content of the e-mail you sent me and to which Cowley was responding!

Cowley wrote a threatening and defamatory letter to you, about you and me, and what I posted on Genii Forum was to expose that letter and was simply telling the truth. Wasn't it enough that he insulted you and the memory of your parents and their generosity?

I do not think Cowley can do anything further to stress or upset you. I frankly could care less what he thinks of me. He has shown his very negative true colors and deserves the full light of exposure on his activities and motives. I am just telling the truth and will let the chips fall where they may!

Sincerely,

Bill McIlhany

Brad Henderson
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Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes an a

Postby Brad Henderson » January 12th, 2011, 11:06 pm

How did "the las vegas magicians" come to receive a copy of Keppel's email to Bill in the first place? Was it posted publicly somewhere? By whom?

JKeppel
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Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: PA

Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes an a

Postby JKeppel » January 12th, 2011, 11:22 pm

I repeat, and I will not post it again, you told me on the phone you would ONLY show it to the members of the board and those were your EXACT words

houdini's ghost
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Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes an a

Postby houdini's ghost » January 13th, 2011, 1:48 am

Well,
This is nasty. Clearly, Joe Keppel had no idea that email he said he would allow to be quoted from in a closed door hearing would turn up on this forum. He seems blindsided by it.
That having been said, this is public now, and something that was in the "Las Vegas Magicians" missive to Joe Keppel is very disturbing:
"Well Joe, you have the sympathy of a lot of west coast magicians for distributing your hateful letter filled with nasty remarks. Please do us magicians on the west coast a favor. Don't ever think of visiting Las Vegas or the Magic Castle, let alone try getting booked there. No one wants to see your name on the performance schedule. Stay back in Bethlehem. Perform for Kate Plus Eight in Wernersville and blow up ballons (sp) for the kids in Kutztown, and keep telling those cute jokes at Ring 32 in Allentown."
"Las Vegas Magicians"
It is extremely important to know who wrote those words. Is it someone with some clout at the Magic Castle? Is it Rich Cowley?
"Please do us magicians on the west coast a favor. Don't ever think of visiting Las Vegas or the Magic Castle, let alone try getting booked there. No one wants to see your name on the performance schedule."
I can't believe that a member of the Magic Castle's board of directors would write those words.

Bill McIlhany
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Joined: October 28th, 2010, 2:15 pm

Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes

Postby Bill McIlhany » January 13th, 2011, 9:16 am

One more time, Joe:

I told you I had to show it to the Grievance committee members. You agreed. The only way they would have time to read it before part 2 of the hearing on the 22nd was to post it here. As I said in the post, that's the only reason why I posted it.

Bill

Bill McIlhany
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Joined: October 28th, 2010, 2:15 pm

Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes

Postby Bill McIlhany » January 13th, 2011, 9:17 am

I don't know how Cowley got it. It was not online until yesterday,

Bill

Bill McIlhany
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Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes

Postby Bill McIlhany » January 13th, 2011, 9:19 am

Those words were quite obviously written by Cowley. The content of the letter was known only to him and Joe Keppel.

Bill

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Rich Cowley
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Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes

Postby Rich Cowley » January 13th, 2011, 4:08 pm

You're right, Houdini's Ghost; this is getting nasty.

I have no intention of discussing here, the details of the ethics grievance I've filed against Mr. McIlhany. (IMHO, the facts speak for themselves but, of course, thats for the AMAs Ethics Committee to decide.) I'm sorry (in this thread and in others) that Mr. McIlhany has chosen to "try this case in the court of public opinion" before the Committee has a chance to hear all sides (and make their judgment) in the proper setting - that is, the confines of their hearing room.

(When Mr. McIlhany claims, The only way they would have time to read [these materials] before part 2 of the hearing on the 22nd was to post it here, Im left to wonder why he didnt just simply submit them to the Committee Chairperson, where he in turn would distribute them to the Committee privately in plenty of time, just like everything else involved in this hearing.)

In fact, I hadn't planned on commenting on anything in any of these threads. But a few cheap, personal shots have been made against me here, and I'd like to take a moment to, if not clear my name entirely, at least show both sides of an insinuation/accusation:

- Yes, I was 15 once. And, yes, I was usually broke in the years before my first marriage. My father left our family when I was 3, and my mom worked hard as a waitress to keep us afloat. By the time I was a teenager, we were living in a little house (more like a shack, looking back) just outside of Allentown, PA, and money was always tight. Mr. Keppels a few years older than me, and he owned a car, as did several of our mutual friends; I didnt learn to drive until my 20s and so, in my teens, I wound up as Perpetual Passenger. (A quick shout-out to Craig Daniel and the Daves, among others, if theyre listening: thanks again!)

- Yes, both Mr. Keppel and his parents were extremely generous to me during that time, both in taking me into their home when times got tough, and slipping me a little cash now and then to ease my way. Ill always be grateful to all of them, despite what Mr. Keppel accuses me of now.

- Yes, I served in several offices at Ring #32, but never President. Looking back, Im not surprised; by the time my number came up, I still didnt own a decent suit, and was just getting started learning street magic in Philadelphia. (Whod want a scruffy kid like that as the public face of a club? Yecch!)

- The relationship between Mr. Keppel and I cooled after I got married to Wife #1, back in 1982. I had three stepchildren in that marriage, so I didnt spend a whole lot of time on Ring #32 stuff; in those years, in was work, work, work. In fact, I let my Ring membership lapse for quite a few years, only picking it up again when I divorced around 1990.

- Yes, I was arrested for solicitation, back in 1989, when my relationship with my first wife was crumbling. Thats not something Im proud of, and Im not crazy that others chose to publicize it, but its also not something Id deny. (Like a line I remember from a movie: Some mistakes, you never stop payin for.)

- Mr. Keppels right when he says I left for the West Coast because I was unsatisfied with the attitudes of the magicians I knew back East. In my naivet, I thought magicians at the Magic Castle would be a lot less cliquish and petty. (OK, once youre done laughing at that one, keep reading.)

- Yes, its true I didnt stay in contact with Ring #32 once I moved out West. When I got my first Castle gig (in the early 2000s; cant remember which year), I realized how many years had gone by since talking to any of #32s members, and realized my silence had been a stupid move. So, I wrote to as many magishes as I could find from Back Home, and asked them if they wanted to take an unexpected LA vacation, come out to see the Castle, and maybe we could catch up. I didnt know that I needed nerve (as Mr. Keppel puts it) to make that invitation; I just thought I could try righting a wrong. Hey, my bad.

- No, (regretfully) I was not at the Larsen Family tribute last month. Its not that I didnt want to attend (in fact, because Im on the Board, I felt I should have attended); its just that I had previous engagements down in LA until dinnertime that day, and couldnt make my schedule cooperate with a trip up to Vegas in time for the event.

- No, I do not know who wrote this letter signed, Las Vegas Magicians, nor did I even know of its existence until this morning. I have my theories on the author(s), and Im exploring those theories now privately. (Id like to know who wrote it, though. Looking at the hornets nest it stirred up, Im not sure whether to thank her/him or not, but I would like to at least discuss it with them. If the author is listening here: Please give me a shout at rcowley@socal.rr.com, or call me at 714.379.9518. Thanks!)

- While there are references to Eastern Pennsylvania in the letter, Ill even go further and say that I didnt even understand one of them (Kate Plus Eight), until a friend explained it to me this morning. (I dont watch much TV anymore, and so that reference flew right by me.) While I can see why Mr. McIlhany, in his anger, thinks I wrote the letter, I'm not sure why he would claim it "obvious"; I admit I've 'zinged' fellow magicians in the past, but I don't believe I've ever written words as nasty as this letter's.

- Further: Ive never sent an anonymous letter in my life. I disdain anything anonymous; those that know me, also know Im also opposed to the anonymous Academy poster we hear from time to time in the Castles online forum.

- Ive never falsely claimed credit for things at the Magic Castle, and will gladly admit that Ray Pierce and Jim Starr did the Castles camera work for years, before I joined (and became chairman of) the Multimedia Committee. But, I must also say: Our Board named me chairman in response to numerous complaints theyd received about the old committee, especially after they no-showed on a Dai Vernon tribute event we held at the Castle that theyd agreed to videotape. Im proud of what I accomplished in my 3+ years as Committee chair, and will gladly compare my performance record against anyones.

I suppose I could go on here, but Im a little tired of talking about this. Again: unlike Mr. McIlhany, I wont go into detail here about the charges Ive filed. (After the Committee releases its findings, I might change my tune, but not before then.) But, Im glad I took the time to clear the air a bit about these personal jabs Ive been seeing. -- Im sorry, as always, to see a magicians forum devolve into such ugliness.

Thanks for your time! RC

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Rich Cowley, having no evidence for his phony Grievance against Bill McIlhany, writes

Postby Richard Kaufman » January 13th, 2011, 4:29 pm

Both sides have spoken. Thread now locked.
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