Doug Henning letter to Randi on Ebay

[mrgoat]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 6535581498

[Jonathan Townsend]

Originally posted by mrgoat:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 6535581498

Thanks for posting the link. 1983, I guess that was when he brought Merlin to the stage. A very ambitious project. I'm sorry I did not get to see that show. Great to be reminded Henning was an optimist.

[rich aviles]

From Boing Boing:

"Item #6535581498 now being offered for sale on eBay is a letter written and sent to me by Doug Henning in 1983. At that time, I lived in Rumson, New Jersey. Until I saw it on eBay a few days ago, I thought it was still in my Henning file, but it apparently was stolen from me sometime after 1995, when I last referred to it.
If any of you have heard scuttlebutt about this item, I'd like to hear from you. I cannot discover who offered it for sale, but I assure you I treasured it highly.

James Randi. "

[John LeBlanc]

And the plot thickens.

I updated my blog post from this morning at 6:27 ( http://www.escamoteurettes.com/blog/index.php?p=184 ) to include the following note from the eBay seller:

Yes, thank you, Mr. Randis public posting about the letter has made its way to many hundreds (or thousands) of his followers. As we stated to Mr. Randi early on, we would not bow to extortion or pressures or threats as we are not even the owner of this letter, we are a bonded, licensed Trading Assistant selling it under written contract for the ex-wife of Mr. Randis foster son and former assistant. Our understanding is that the letter came to be in this persons possession much longer ago than Mr. Randi states, the client says she believes it came to her ex-husband in the 1980s. Regardless, Mr. Randis claim that the letter was stolen is contradicted by our clients written statement and contract. His attempts to extort the item from us using public embarassment were completely inappropriate and not appreciated. Mr. Randi was informed that a proper police report would start the ball rolling towards resolution but that report just arrived yesterday May 31st.

John LeBlanc
http://www.escamoteurettes.com/blog/

[John LeBlanc]

Originally posted by John W. LeBlanc:
And the plot thickens.

...yet again. The Seller ended the auction early, using the "item no longer available" option. He explained in painful detail the issues he dealt with and how he dealt with it.

Power of the press(ure).

For posterior's sake, I updated the blog (again) to include the statement.

John LeBlanc
http://www.escamoteurettes.com/blog/

[Jonathan Townsend]

I can't say this episode reflects well on any of the parties involved.

At least we got to see some about Doug Henning from that letter.

[Guest]

Originally posted by John W. LeBlanc:
For posterior's sake

Is that a deliberate pun, or a typo? I ask solely out of curiosity.

Dave

[John LeBlanc]

Originally posted by Dave Le Fevre:

Originally posted by John W. LeBlanc:
[b]For posterior's sake

Is that a deliberate pun, or a typo? I ask solely out of curiosity.

Dave [/b]

You know what they say about curiosity...

Yes, deliberate. "Posterior's sake" as in "a year from now, no one reading this will give a rat's hind quarters this ever occurred."

And, really, I doubt it will take a year. But call me Mr. Optimist. :)

John LeBlanc
http://www.escamoteurettes.com/blog/

[Lisa Cousins]

Originally posted by John W. LeBlanc:
You know what they say about curiosity...

Yes.

Curiosity killed the cat
But satisfaction brought him back

:)

[Guest]

I'm not satisfied......I was the highest bidder and they took it down......

[John LeBlanc]

Originally posted by Doug Edwards:
I'm not satisfied......I was the highest bidder and they took it down......

(James T. Kirk voice:) Those Klingon bastards!

John LeBlanc
http://www.escamoteurettes.com/blog/

[Guest]

It just dropped like a rebel down the ol' sarlac pit!

[Dustin Stinett]

James Randi is reporting on his website that the letter is back in his possession.

http://www.randi.org/jr/060305be.html#13

[Robert Allen]

LMAO @ myself :)

I had to go look up what a Sarlacc Pit was :) . With the context of "rebel" I initially assumed it was someting to do with the Civil War :) .

[Guest]

Originally posted by Lisa Cousins:

Originally posted by John W. LeBlanc:
[b]You know what they say about curiosity...

Yes.

Curiosity killed the cat
But satisfaction brought him back

:) [/b]

To see one way curiosity killed the cat, click on this link!

http://www.charlesmarshallcomedy.com/Video/cat.wmv

I love cats, but this is funny! --Asrah

[John LeBlanc]

Originally posted by Asrah:
I love cats, but this is funny! --Asrah

And to plow this thread even further off course, the funniest cat-related humor I ever heard was from the very angry white man formerly known as George Carlin and his effin-meow routine.

"I meant to do that."

Made paying for HBO worthwhile, that did.

John LeBlanc
http://www.escamoteurettes.com/blog/

[Dustin Stinett]

As he promised, Randi posted the text of the Henning letter on his site. There is also some background on the letter as well. Short but interesting reading.

Dustin

http://www.randi.org/jr/061005smug.html#10