Luke Wilson, 1976 – 2012

Luke Wilson was an innovator, one of the first modern-style jugglers. His resume is vast and his impact great. His compulsion to excellence was apparent in his performing, teaching, directing, and other aspects of his life.

I first met Luka Luka (Luke and Ilka Licht) when they were special guests at the Israeli Juggling Convention in 2001 and not only did they blow us away (Luke’s 3 club competition routine got nearly 4 times as many votes as second place), but the following year his influence was obvious as so many jugglers were working on his style of kickups, wrist-traps, and more. Other of his routines, like the cerebral Red-Blue that I saw at EJC 2006, are inimitable.

A couple weeks ago, Luke wrote me that he had cancer and wouldn’t be able to continue writing for the ezine. I was shocked and heartbroken to hear such a tragedy, and it weighed down on me for days. I wasn’t sure who I could discuss it with since there was no obvious public announcement but then the love started pouring in on his facebook. No mentions were made of health, just love. It was a beautiful demonstration of our community and a high sign of respect for Luke.

Sadly, he died a few days later.

His legacy of style and perfection will certainly endure.

Luke’s ezine articles were previously for members only, but he has asked that they be open to the public. Here are his eJuggle writings:

• Notes and queries and a case full of clubs: Style Notes
• Notes and queries and a case full of clubs: Concepts
• Notes and queries and a case full of clubs: Subjugation
• Notes and queries and a case full of clubs: Words of the Week
• Notes and queries and a case full of clubs: PROPS 01 (Crossword solution)
• Notes and queries and a case full of clubs: Efficiency
• Notes and queries and a case full of clubs: PROPS
• Notes and queries and a case full of clubs: Object Physical Research
• Notes and queries and a case full of clubs: Risk

Here are some resources about Luke:

• www.lukewilson.de his main website.
• Luke’s Blog on CircusGeeks (with a nice obituary) and all articles by Luke (some actually aren’t in his blog).
• Luke’s Facebook page (with many kind words).
• YouTube channels: manipulatr and cubecheat, plus his kickup tutorial for the 2010 VTC.
• Obituary threads on rec.juggling (Google Groups) and JugglingEdge
• Luke Wilson Memorial Donations: cancer charity supported by Luke’s family.

Scott Seltzer

Scott Seltzer has been very active in the IJA and the juggling world for a very long time. He co-founded the IJDb, was a member of the JISCON, is on the team of IJC, and is involved in other acronyms with I's and J's in them. Scott is a semi-professional performer and lives in Israel with his two awesome daughters.