George William Sharples 1938 - 2011

Biography

George William Sharples (membership number 19163R) was one of the first members of Ring 202 in the 1967. He was one of its founders and a hard-working member for many years.  He was the one who pushed this group to become part of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1969.  He was also instrumental in the Ring winning various quality awards.

George was born in Wigan, Lancashire, England on March 30th, 1938 to a British soldier and his Maltese wife. His father died in enemy fire during World War II, while in Malta, and George was brought up in the small island where his father lost his life.  His love of magic was shared by his brother Alfred and, together, they built an act called Les Sharps branching into Dove Magic and Mentalism. Together they had a book published by Supreme Magic Company called ‘Sharp Sorcery’ and had a parade published in The Linking Ring.  George married Marie, taking up residence in Rabat, Malta. He has two daughters Brigid and Josette both married and living in England.  Besides his brother, George had two sisters, one of them a sister of charity.

He was secretary of the Ring for many years and then President and Territorial Vice-President.  After an open-heart surgery and other medical problems, involving being hooked to a dialysis machine for several hours every day, he still attended meetings and acted as secretary again for a few years, sharing his passion for card magic. Besides absorbing himself in card magic he also became a collector of unusual playing cards, studying their history in the process.

George was a qualified Electronic Engineer by profession and accredited in Labour and Social studies from the University of Malta. He was employed by Malta Drydocks Corporation where he held various managerial positions.

During his retirement he still learned more magic, wrote poetry and practised painting in acrylics and oil on canvas and pen drawings.  George passed away on the 9th May 2011.  He is now fondly remembered by all magicians that knew him and his quiet ways, by his wife and siblings, his daughters and three loving grandchildren who recited moving original poems during his funeral.