Today the Magic Community lost a giant and many of us lost a cherished friend and mentor.

Richard Gustafson, PhD, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts where he learned Magic as a boy by visiting the local library. He was bitten by the Magic Bug when he saw a performance by Dante at the local theatre.

After serving in the military, he earned a PhD in Chemistry and worked for Rohm and Haas before deciding to pursue Magic full-time.

With his lovely wife, Joanne, he developed what many consider to be the classiest act in Magic called “Magic By Candlelight” which propelled them into the national spotlight where they appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show”, “The Mike Douglas Show” as well as Bill Bixby’s “The Wonderful World of Magic.”

As a couple, The Gustafsons toured the United States and abroad with their amazing act and in later years they presented their Stage Illusion Show, “The Amazing World of Magic” onstage at The Pitman Theater in New Jersey.

When you watched them perform, you knew that you were seeing something very special. They would routinely stand in the lobby of the theater after their stage performances to personally greet and thank every member of the audience, sign programs and pose for photographs.

Aside from being consummate performers, Dick and Joanne were both lovely people. Dick was always willing to dispense both advice and encouragement to other Magicians. Over the years, they performed many a benefit for those in need and felt an obligation to give back to the community. In fact, Dick served on the Board of Directors of The Keswick Theater for a number of years.

Aside from serving as the President of the Society of American Magicians, Dick also worked tirelessly as the Editor of the organization’s MUM Magazine and was elected to the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame.

Joanne passed away in 2019 after 66 years of marriage.

I considered it both an honor and a privilege to have been on the same bill as Dick and Joanne over the years and to have enjoyed their company in various social settings.

Although Dick passed away today at the age of 92, he and his lovely Joanne made an indelible impression on everyone who had the pleasure of seeing them perform and who had the privilege of their friendship.

May they both Rest In Peace and may perpetual light shine upon them.

Thanks for the memories!

Truly sad news. I remember the first time I met Dick. We were performing our act at a local convention for the first time. After the show, he came up and told us we showed exactly what magic should be. I didn't know who he was at the time but later learned what a great compliment that was. We became good friends after that. RIP my friend

Dick was a hero to me when I met him around 1970 and was a big influence on my style. Later, I got to know him a bit better and he remains a inspiration to this day. He will be sadly missed ... as he was the last of an era of elegant, sophisticated and charming performers.

How sad. I worked with Dick many times. I also was fortunate to see him work phone shows with John Bundy and Morgan. I like to see how acts play for real people. Dick was as solid for real people as he was for magicians.
The last project I worked with him on was recreating the Duval Silk production. It was fun recreating something from the past and having a present master do it.
Rest in Peace dear friend. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

I'm sad to read of his passing , but glad for his long life, well-lived and his lasting legacy. I vividly remember seeing The Gustafson's on television in the 1970's and reading about them in Genii magazine (which was my lifeline to the wide world of magic from the small town I lived in) I was very impressed by their act. As Jonathan Neal said, they were elegant,sophisticated and charming. I've always heard great things about Dick ,but never had the privilege to meet him in real life. Condolences to his family and friends.

I'm sorry for Dick's passing. I had the unique pleasure to be in high school the same time his children were in high school. Dick performed many times for the school - I loved it. That when I fell in love with his candle routine, ending with a production of a candelabra! Of course I met him many times outside of the school events, including a few years ago he lectured for our local magic club. Even at the age of 88 he acted like a boy with his enthusiasm showing us, teaching us, and performing magic.

What a great way to be remembered. I'm told Marvyn Roy was the same way, never having lost his enthusiasm for magic.
From personal correspondence I know that Walter Blaney was another one who just loved magic and magicians. Someone else who was enormously helpful to me (from his posts here and in a series of emails we had back and forth) was Dick Oslund. These men will all be remembered as mentors and sages who kept their enthusiasm for magic. A great legacy.

The Gustafsons were probably the first live magic show I saw - at least on the big stage. It was at a large historical theater. They had a program with various themes. Maybe something like "magic of the orient", "Patriotic Magic"; I'm sure I'm not getting these right but that's the idea. I'd love to see the program again to see the set list of what I remembered so fondly then. A neighborhood friend and I had just gotten into magic, so we created our own show in the basement with "themes" as best we could do for the props we had, and our own program inspired by what we saw. Many years later I met Dick and told him about that experience; he seemed like a very gracious person