DEREK McFAULL
by Elizabeth Warlock
British Ring 25,
The United Kingdom

We have great sorrow in announcing that our President, Derek McFaull, passed away today August 4th 2008, and may he rest in peace. There are few people who could successfully combine spiritual duties with those of a more earthly nature, but Derek McFaull took both in stride. As Chief Welfare Officer of Ring 25 since 2003, he looked after the health and welfare of some 1,700 members. This involves sending cards and messages to the sick and bereaved. Despite this being an almost full-time job, he also was a part-time Church of England (Anglican) minister, attached to Salisbury Cathedral, as well as being Chaplain to the Ring, performing any services which may be required by members, including the interdenominational service which always concludes the annual convention. (read more)

Born in 1933 in Calne in Wiltshire not far from Stonehenge, and of Scottish descent, he first got interested in magic at the age of eleven after receiving a magic set. So fascinated was he by the subject that he raided the local library for books on magic, and also joined the Boys Magic Service, a mail order business from which he was able to purchase a number of tricks.

He learned fast - so much so in fact that by the time he was twelve, he put on his first show. This included such effects as Rising Cards, Rice Bowls, Linking Rings, Evaporated Milk, and a number of Ghost Tube productions. As a result of all this he started winning talent competitions and performing at local functions, and at seventeen made his first television appearance.

But then National Service intervened (compulsory in 1951), and he spent the next couple of years in the Royal Air Force as an Air Traffic Controller. But he did manage to find time to entertain RAF personnel, and at civic functions outside of the camp. In 1951 he attended his first magic convention. This was the British Ring at Bournemouth, where he met many prominent British magicians, including I.B.M. Past International Presidents Bill Stickland and Jeffery Atkins, as well as Johnny Ramsay, Tom Harris, Francis Haxton, Geoffrey Buckingham, Wilfred Tyler, and Peter Warlock.

Since then he has attended many more, although never outside of this country. Upon completion of National Service, he entered the family business as marketing director, a position that took him around the world. He spent five years in Japan researching high-tech products used in photocopying machines and high-resolution cameras.

Unfortunately, during his time in Japan he had no contact with Japanese magicians, because work was on the forefront of his mind. Magic, at this time in his life, was somewhat on the back burner. But upon his early retirement, he came back to magic with renewed energy. He worked professionally for five years, performing in up-market hotels and in many of England's stately homes. After all, he had had connections with professional magicians, having been greatly influenced by Jasper Maskleyne and David Nixon while in his teens.

But while successful, he knew it could not last, bearing in mind his age and being up against some of the up-and coming young magicians, with their technical skills, energy, and enthusiasm. He decided to go into the Church - albeit on a part-time basis - for it was while in his thirties that he had become interested in religion and the part it played in his daily life. As a result he studied theology in his spare time, eventually becoming ordained as a Church of England Minister.

So when he was offered a part-time appointment at the beautiful Salisbury Cathedral in its picturesque setting, the decision was an easy one. In addition to working part time for the Church, being Chaplain to various organizations, and Chief Welfare Officer of the British Ring, he also is organiser of the Hospital/Special Venue shows which are a feature of British Ring conventions. This he took over in 1994.

It involves visits to the town where the convention will take place and seeking out venues where adults or children are disadvantaged in any way. Having established these, he then arranges an afternoon of entertainment from among the conventioneers who are willing to give up their own enjoyment of a lecture or show to bring a smile to the faces of those who are not so lucky in life. This is quite a task when one considers that perhaps as many as twelve shows are taking place all at the same time.

It is usual for the president and International President to make a short visit to each venue, for which Brian Miller ferries them from place to place in style in his Rolls Royce car. While not a collector, McFaull had a number of books. Favourites include the Tarbell and Mark Wilson courses, Modern Magic by Hoffmann; the Royal Road to Card Magic;" Entertaining Card Magic" by Cy Enfield; Magic of Robert Harbin, and a number of books on illusions. Many of his favourite magicians have been illusionists, such as Doug Henning, Kio, Jasper Maskelyne, Robert Harbin, Lance Burton and Alan Shaxon, who has performed many of Harbin's illusions.

Having lost his wife some fifteen years ago, he has a son in Australia and a daughter. Between them they have five sons - his grandsons, of course. One, a three-year-old in Australia, is showing distinct signs of becoming a magician. Already he can perform such effects as the Colour-changing Silks, and the Linking Rings, albeit with a miniature set.

We will miss Derek McFaull, British Ring president, magician, and spiritual guide to his brothers and sisters in magic.

[Sourced from the January 2008 Linking Ring: Magical journalist Elizabeth Warlock has been writing for The Linking Ring since 1971, first with "Toronto Tricks" and later, "Our Side of the Pond." The daughter of the late Peter Warlock, she was a prize-winning magician, appearing on television on both sides of the Atlantic, until her retirement. She is also a member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star]

http://www.britishring.org.uk/