Edmond Wilde e-mailed me with a list of items I had posted that he felt were out of place, quasi-libelous or otherwise objectionable. I will not list all of them here, because in so doing, I would be repeating the statements, and that would simply be causing the problem once again.

A few of the statements were a matter of interpretation. He objected to my statement that "Jonny doesn't do anything without Char helping him!" Mr. Wilde felt that I was implying that Jonathan Pendragon is unable to think for himself. Not true. If Mr. Wilde chooses to interpret it that way, that's his business. However, I should say that I had forgotten that when he works the close-up gallery at the Castle, he works solo. So I hereby retract that statement and apologize to anyone who thinks that I intended it to indicate that Jonathan was helpless without Char. Obviously, this is not so. Charlotte is his wife and business partner as Mr. Wilde pointed out in his e-mail.

More serious was a post I made in which I stated that a trip to their web site showed that they had a fairly open schedule for the summer, with nothing In Las Vegas and their next gig being one at the Castle, so they must have needed the money. I have no way of knowing whether they have any trade shows or other corporate gigs during that apparently open period. Considering their talents, they probably have them. So I retract that statement, even though the post has now been deleted by the staff. I apologize for any inconvenience or chagrin this may have caused the Pendragons.

I also referred to them as a rather low form of life. I shall not repeat the reference, as it has also been deleted by the staff. I hereby retract that reference and apologize to them for it.

I did make a statment to the effect that although the Pendragons are well-known in magic circles, outside of them they are not exactly a "household name," and that they might see this as an opportunity to become one. Mr. Wilde feels this is unkind and out of place.

I disagree.

I'm not trying to belittle their stature one iota; however, let's be realistic about magicians. In the layman's eyes, there are only a few magicians who have "household name" status --

Mark Wilson, David Blaine, David Copperfield, Doug Henning, Siegfried and Roy, Harry Blackstone,Sr. and Jr., Lance Burton and Houdini are the ones that everyone recognizes. Many recognize the Amazing Jonathan.

So I stand by that statement.

Another was one concerning an unfortunate incident during a "World's Greatest Magicians" special. I won't repeat the whole thing, but I won't retract it, either. It was true, and everyone I know in the business laughed about it for weeks, even though the Pendragons may not have thought it was funny. They did handle it well, though.

In summation, I do apologize for the statments that Mr. Wilde felt were untrue, and for any discomfort that I may have caused the Pendragons in this incident.

Mr Palmer

I can only say thank you. You have shown yourself to be a true gentleman. I am delighted that we have managed to conclude this matter amicably and satisfactorily.

Kind Regards

Edmond W. Wilde

First, a big thank-you to Bill for retracting his statements in such a gracious manner. It seems that more and more people in this day and age have a hard time admitting that they may have been incorrect on a specific issue, and to moe on with life. You are indeed a gentleman.

However, Bill, you made one statement above that I found interesting: you included Lance Burton in a list of household names that "everyone recognizes."

I thought so too until a few weeks ago when we returned from a long weekend in Vegas. A number of our friends of course asked which shows we had seen, and we mentioned Lance's. We live in the SF Bay Area and our friends are mostly in the medical and theatrical fields, with a few in other professions, and not one of them had heard of Lance.

I'm not asking you to retract anything here but I do have to wonder if "our" concept of household names is different than the general public's.

I thank both of you for your kind comments.

Maybe "everyone" is a bit strong, when it comes to Lance, perhaps I should have put him with the "many recognize" list. A lot of the name recognition depends on who had the most recent special.

For a long time, Siegfried and Roy were simply known as "those guys who have the tigers." Recent events have brought them closer to the front of the news. I know them, and I must say that I am delighted at the progress Roy has made since the tragic incident. That was, indeed, a horrible thing.