Rachel Colombini Death & Paul Gordon

[Paul Gordon]

Dear All, I know this is kind of old news but I've not had a chance to tell the "full" story since Rachel died a few years ago. Anyway...

I'd heard that there had been obits/memoriams etc for Rachel about a year before she "officially" died and I knew it to be "fake news" and said so at the time on Facebook. She was alive and living in Spain. I knew Rachel VERY well since she was a teen and was very fond of her. Because she was attractive and flirty, she often garnered the wrong kind of attention from various magicians. And, to be frank, she knew how to play the game as it were.

After failed marriages/relationships she finally found love with my old pal Aldo. But, Aldo began struggling with his weight and drink and both he and Rachel would often just get drunk at home. Aldo's weight and drink killed him. Rachel told me that in his last year he was getting a little agressive which made her drink more. What with her heart problems her health rapidly declined.

I can't recall the actual year, but at the Blackpool Magic Convention of 2017/8 Rachel came to visit me. Not many recognised her because she appeared quite heavy and was wearing a baseball cap over her eyes. One night we went for a drink and aside from chatting about old times we chatted about her predicament. After Aldo died she married again. He was abusive and the marriage ended within weeks. She moved to Spain where she met an older fella called Des; and Des was with her at Blackpool. It seemed more like a father-daughter relationship (she was 53 and he about 75) and they were both drinking heavily. Rachel told me she had only months to live and she had come to Blackpool for a last fling at magic.

We chatted often on the phone but she died soonafter.

Her funeral was the saddest affair imagineable. Only four attended: Me, my wife, the afore-mentioned Des and a local magician. I gave the eulogy which was one of the hardest things I've done. It was a paupers funeral of sorts held in Devon, England where she lived with Des.

I'm still a tad angry/upset about the magicians who didn't attend her funeral but who offered wonderful words about her on Facebook. Phrases like "She was my best friend" and "I loved her dearly" ring hollow when NONE of these people visited her whilst alive or said goodbye at her funeral. Oh well!

After she died, Des vanished into the night and has not been seen since!

Anyway, there IS more to say but it's probably inappropriate to say it here...

XXX Paul Gordon

[RobFromNZ]

Thanks Paul. I had a little email contact with Aldo and Rachel over the years, but just as a customer. I enjoyed their material.

It sounds like a sad story in the end. Our current crisis reminds me that real relationships and 'being there' for people is a treasure we sometimes neglect.

[Richard Kaufman]

Rachel was a manipulative and somewhat nefarious person.

[Paul Gordon]

Not in my experience and I knew her well for 35 years.

[Richard Kaufman]

There's lots about her life here in the States you don't know. Trying to break up marriages is one of them.

[Paul Gordon]

I know about some of that stuff and I know where it comes from in regards to her awful childhood and abuse. Sad all round.