MIKE ROGERS -- Mike Rogers passed away on June 11. To the legions of us who considered him a friend, and who were unaware of his recent illness, this news came as an incredible shock and is still quite difficult to accept. Mike needs no introduction here, as he is one of the giants of magic and arguably the giant in the trade show field. When I needed an introduction, many years ago, to my book Little Egypt Card Tricks, Mike graciously consented to write the Foreword. He also fiddled with some of the tricks therein and made substantial improvements. Mike had a way of reducing a trick to its cleanest, most practical ingredients. He would send people things in the mail. In my "Little Egypt Card Rise," I do the Devano rise to the old 60s Coasters hit, Little Egypt. Mike sent me a tape of Elvis doing the song. He was opinionated and proud of it. He was so very funny. He showed me the most obscene card trick I've ever seen. Its title, "The Cocksucker Kings," doesn't even begin to betray how politically incorrect it was. He told Milt Larsen he was performing it in the Close-up Gallery, Milt's eyes widening at every indecent turn of the cards. In print he could make me howl with laughter by the surprise use of some inappropriate word that only boys use. (He was, after all, a sailor. Mike and I shared Navy ties as well as San Diego ties.) We saw each other mostly at Joe Stevens' Desert Magic Seminars, where Mike made a habit of buying me breakfast. I shall so miss those morning get togethers. There has never been a better time to join Joe Stevens' Gemini site for only $20 a year, because 56 articles, stories, and tricks by Mike Rogers reside there, and they are delightful. Mike's book, The Complete Mike Rogers, is still in print at Magic, Inc. and is also only $20. And Jon Racherbaumer is working on Mike's trade show magnum opus. June 11 is also Dai Vernon's birthday. Wherever one's spirit goes after this life, it's a safe bet that Mike's and Vernon's will wind up in the same place. I can picture Vernon welcoming his old pal, with a slice of birthday cake waiting.

IMPOSSIBILITIES -- I had recently been bemoaning the fact that I hadn't encountered a new drop dead miracle card trick in over a year. That quest came to a happy end with the publication of Simon Aronson's new hardcover, Try the Impossible. The trick is "Prior Commitment," and it's one of several that exploit Simon's incredible UnDo Influence, to which he devotes 92 pages. The other two portions of the book include Eccen-tricks (a potpourri of items including two exceptional gaffed ace assemblies) and Unpacking the Aronson Stack (new uses for everyone's favorite memorized stack, but which don't require memorizing anything). All this plus a ring on rubber band effect. You can check out Simon's offerings (including a deal on the gaffed aces) at his new web site, at simonaronson.com. The book contains 290 pages and is only $40.