JACK PYLE

Magician & Escape Artist, Biography by his son, John-Ivan Palmer

Jack Pyle was born John Paul Pyle on November 24, 1909 in the Ohio River town of Rockport, Indiana. His mother was the descendent of survivors of the Cherokee Nation's "Trail of Tears." His father was the ultimate skeptic of scientific materialism, and objected not only to cars, planes and the railroad, but also electricity and indoor plumbing.

Through some ancient Indian persuasion, my grandmother talked my grandfather into making a trip to Washington DC—by train—for the inauguration of William H. Taft. It was on that trip that my father was conceived. This family secret was imparted to me by his oldest sister shortly before she died at the age of 101.

Early, undated press clippings report my father performing at a Kiwanis club in Rockport, Indiana, probably in 1940. Later (also undated) press clips report him performing in the Navy's 52nd Defense Battalion in the Marshall Islands. Both mention him doing "card tricks."

The quintessential peacenik, he spent much of his time offstage in the Pacific islands using his status as an entertainer to defuse race riots (which were common), and intervening to prevent looters from taking souvenirs from dead Japanese soldiers. In the thick of war hysteria, when American "Japs" were hauled off to concentration camps, he made friends in Honolulu with a Japanese magician, identified in a news article as "Tenkai." But Tenkai is merely a common Japanese name, so he might have been referring to Tenko Hikita.