This rather sad news, almost slipped me by.
Braco, German magician and author of the seminal work on threadwork, " Floating routines for Table and stagework", passed away on new years eve..
I have cut and pasted his obituary from Magic newzealands news letter....
Broken Wand - Ralf Wichmann - Braco
--------------------------------------------
by Message Bill Palmer
I am sad to report that Ralf Wichmann - Braco, the author of Schweberoutinenen für Tisch und Bühne -- Floating Routines for
Table and Stage - passed away in a nursing home in Berlin on 31 December 2009.
He was one of the foremost authorities on levitations in general and on the obtaining and use of IT, long before it was available to the general magical population. His book, published in 1973 by the Magischer Zirkel Berlin, was the first bilingual book that the Magischer Zirkel Berlin ever published.
It contained detailed descriptions of how to obtain and use
several different strengths of IT, different
hookups and many applications. It was published in English under several different names, the legitimate one being published by Martin Breese -- The IT Manual.
He had a very droll sense of humor. He was a close friend of Ted
Lesley, as well. He collaborated on several tricks with Ted, and during the last years of Ted's life, made certain that he was at least reasonably comfortable in the nursing home where he spent his final months.
Ralf lived in a small flat on Wipperstraße in Berlin. His home was packed with magic props, books, documents, etc., all of which
were cataloged and filed away neatly.
The magicians of Germany in general, and Berlin, specifically, have lost a very strong supporter.
