THE MAGICAL GARDEN

By Peter Vuono


     Journalist Andy Rooney once said that "Teachers have thousands of people who will remember them for the rest of their lives". This is certainly true of my friend and former English teacher Joe Sullivan. I was in Joe's class in 1969 when I was in the 10th grade. It was an amazing time in American history and Joe did more than keep up with the changing times. He inspired, encouraged and enhanced our creativity. He, during the poetry unit, allowed us to bring in pop tunes so that we could analyze the style the artist used. He never raised his voice or got angry- he didn't have to.
    Today, unfortunate English teachers are forced to placate students with perfidious tomes written by gangbangers  in an attempt to capture their attention. I was fortunate enough to to be given classics by Joe which I have never forgotten. When I think of Sydney Carton saying,"It is a far,, far better thing that I have ever done", how true it applies to the readings I was lucky enough to have been given.
   Joe and I lived in the same city. It still has many good people but it has slowly suffered a metamorphosis of degradation. This all ceases when one exits the back door of Joe's home into his personal garden.  When I first saw it, I thought that I had stepped into the Garden of Eden, Narnia or even the Shire of Bilbo Baggins. There was a field that went on as far as the eye could see totally obfuscating the darkness that surrounded it. There was row upon row of trees, fruits and vegetables of every kind. It showed me that although the world is getting worse that some things could still shine through the darkness.
   So when I left the mortuary and thought about Joe's magic garden, I remembered that there was another that he left behind- his classroom. He inspired, encouraged and helped me so much to "self actualize"  as Bruce Lee called it which is merely making myself as good as I  could possibly be.
   I had enough confidence to continue to write and although I'm the furthest thing from Checkov I self actualized and got many articles published and continued to write, all because of Joe's classroom.
   Someone once said that ,"If you can bring one moment of happiness into the life of a child, you are a coworker with God". That being said, it is obvious that Joe is going, to"A far, far better rest  than he's ever known".

TO BE KIND

By Peter Vuono

     Like most people, I have a twitter account and am now up to about 800 Tweets.
I try to use inspirational quotes ranging from fictional characters to Mark Twain, Lao Tzu, Buddha and the Bible. However, I think my favorite is from Bruce Lee who said,"A person can never forget someone who is kind to them". This is where my sister-in-law's husband Randy comes in who was recently taken by cancer.
     I remember a family wedding where Randy was dancing with my 10 year old daughter Amy. Randy intended to make this moment in time fun and memorable for Amy; so he picked her up off her feet while they danced. Neither Amy nor I ever forgot it and it was well over 20 years ago.
    Fast forward another 20 plus years to a family pool party. My son Mike does everything within his power to bolster self confidence. He's a world record holder in weightlifting, a teacher and a Black Belt. However one moment with Uncle Randy 7 years ago carried as much weight to enhancing  Mike's self esteem as  did all the other accomplishments.Uncle Randy hadn't seen Mike in quite some time. When he saw him, he was in awe and exclaimed,"Mike you look great; just like Arnold Schwarzenegger!" Yesterday,10/14/18, at about fifteen minutes after Randy passed, THAT compliment was the first thing Mike mentioned  about his beloved uncle. In China, any man who is older and beloved to a younger man, is often called "Uncle". That is how Mike viewed Randy.
   Mother Teresa once said,"There are three things in life that are important: the first is to be kind, the second is to be kind and the third is to be kind." Randy enjoyed many games such as cards, sports and especially golf. I never really knew how good he was at those games but there is ONE game that he really excelled at- the game of life.

Anti-bullying pulpit- with magic!

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS WITH MAGIC- THE TENKAI NECK PENETRATION

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

By Peter Vuono

     All throughout history it seems, people have been fascinated with giants. It didn't seem to matter whether the giant's agenda was nefarious as in the case of Goliath or heroic as in the Irish legend of Finn McCool. The public couldn't get enough enjoyment in reading about and following the exploits of these larger than life entities.
     This author fully remembers the immense(no pun intended) popularity of Andre Rousimoff who was without a doubt one of the most popular wrestling stars of all time. I vividly remember him wrestling in venues ranging from the Boston Garden to a little defunct hall in Brockton, Ma. The crowd reaction was always the same; people couldn't get enough of their hero.
     I suppose it's because many of us project ourselves into the personalities and exploits of  the real life manifestations of the exciting tales we read as youngsters. Is it any wonder why Andre played a supporting role in the Princess Bride or that wrestler Kurgan was unforgettable in the movie "300"?
    Giants act a a venue or medium for us normal folk to escape(even though for a short time) into a personage of great power. This perhaps, is what intrigued me so much about my friend Steve Sanderson.
    In the early 80's I noticed Steve sitting with another titan of strength, Ted Arcidi, at a HS gym in Amesbury, Ma. Steve weighed a solid 325lbs. and had thighs (at about 36 inches in circumference) which rivaled the femur of an apatosaurus. Naturally, I had to talk to Steve who was very accommodating. We became friends and in 1983 I witnessed him doing a deep knee bend(squat) with 920lbs. on his back at the Boston YMCA! In the small fraternity that is powerlifting, Steve became a bonafide legend. However, Steve had giant qualities of the heart that went way beyond his physical strength. To this author, it is these traits that make him so remarkable.
   Steve never boasted and was always humble. He kept his ability somewhat secret and mostly gave accolades to others. I don't ever recall him using the pronoun "I" very often. I haven't seen him since 2009 but I know that if I needed him; he'd be there.
    There was one conversation, however, that I had with Steve, that I'll never forget. We had a mutual friend that we both loved pass on to the other side in April of 09. Shortly after the funeral, I called Steve wanting to talk to someone and trying to make sense of the passing of my friend, Joe.
    Steve very calmly and succinctly reminded me about Joe's eulogy. The priest mentioned that a baby cries when he comes into the world perhaps because he was in such a happy and secure place piror to birth However once he/she is accustomed to the new world, the new environment is a place of happiness and contentment. Steve was intimating that I should not worry about Joe as once he's accustomed to the new world, he too, would find peace.
   Physicist Sir Issac Newton once said,"If I can see further it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants". On that day in April my vision was made clearer thanks to the shoulders and friendship of a giant named Steve.

STRENGTH ON THE OUTSIDE COMES ONLY
AFTER STRENGTH ON THE INSIDE

By Peter Vuono

     After being inspired in the late 1950's by George Reeves and Steve Reeves, all I ever wanted to be was strong like my beloved dinosaurs! After receiving a vinyl covered weight set, I trained for hours daily and for decades (50 years in all) and I made only moderate success. I was a state champ in 77 and a North American deadlift champ in 90. For decades, in my classroom, I had a poster on the wall that read,"Strength on the Outside Comes Only After Strength on the Inside".  Olympian Jesse Owens  once said," Awards become corroded and friends gather no rust". Boy, was Jesse right. I never paid attention to the true meaning of the poster and I paid a big price for trying to obtain strength.
    I broke my back, have a severely arthritic knee and shoulder, two bicep ruptures and a quadruple bypass. I'm still in the gym feeding my muscle dysmorphic self; and for what? This is where my pal, teacher Phil Fortin comes in.
    Phil and I taught together at Brockton High. He always had the uncanny ability to make me laugh EVERY time I encountered him.Comedian Victor Borge once said that,"Laughter is the closest distance between two people" and this is what endeared me to Phil. He was like this with EVERYONE!
   As life went by, Phil encountered huge difficulties. He suffered through two hip replacements, a triple bypass and he also BEAT prostate AND colon cancer!!! His last malady was that he successfully had a brain tumor removed!!  I went to visit Phil in rehab upon his return.His positiveness and jocularity remained in spite of the fact that he had every apparatus including a trachial tube inserted into his tired body. He again made me laugh as if we were back in 1980! Here was a guy exhibiting the kind of strength that I never had  in spite of the fact that he had never lifted a weight in his life!!!
  Phil was always a great coach and teacher and here he taught me a lesson that shines so brightly like a beacon in a dark moonless night. Phil taught me that just maybe, I should have paid a little more attention to what that poster collecting dust in my classroom had said; that "Strength on the Outside comes only After Strength on the Inside".

FAHRENHEIT 451

TITLE AND ORIGINAL BOOK BY RAY BRADBURY

This short tale by Peter Vuono

     On June 21st I was reading one of my favorite comic strips-"Baldo" In it one of the protagonists-Gracie- told her pal that June 21st was the longest day of the year and that they would have to take advantage of it. The two proceeded to lie under a tree and comfortably start reading- from a book!
Long before this, the famed comedian, George Carlin, noted that our technology is better than ever but we,"  communicate less". Nobel Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, was shot in the head by those that didn't think she should be allowed to go to school and finally, many foreign countries such as North Korea, dictate what can be put into  print. Now, right under our noses, it's happening here and WE are to blame.
     I'm reading Ray Bradbury's immortal "Fahrenheit 451" again. It's a futuristic tale where firefighters now are assigned to not put out fires but to BURN BOOKS. The protagonist, Guy Montag is examining his conscience and having many doubts about his duty as he sees a woman immolate herself rather than allow the firemen to torch her books. Few of us will see the re-make movie or read the book and most of us will NEVER  fathom the message.
     Everywhere one goes, every person is out there with earplugs in and phone on. How delighted I would be to see a kid waiting for a bus and reading a book. How delighted I would be to see a kid NOT  crossing a cross walk with plugs in and phone on. How delighted I would be to see my local library open more than two times a week.
    Bradbury had many masterpieces but THIS one has a stern warning that we are not heeding. I once heard it said that reading is "dreaming with one's eyes open" Unfortunately for America, the dream is over.

WHEN LIFE IMITATES ART

By Peter Vuono

     In 1967 two films came out, one being "Ulysses" which had the dubious honor of being the first mainstream movies to use a divisive, offensive word that is now so common that it's used as much as the articles "a" and "the". This is an example where art can proliferate and propagate an idea or term that really can't be very much helpful to society in general. However if we take a different path, depending on how we think, art can be a great influence indeed.
   Comedian Steven Wright once said "I tried to day dream but my mind kept wandering". This happened to me yesterday as I was driving and I thought of another event at about the same time in 1967 that I witnessed and never forgot.
   My folks took me to the historic Boston Garden because not only did I want to see Bruno Sammartino, I wanted to see the return of a sports entertainment legend who had been out of the Northeast for quite sometime- William D. Calhoun.
  William was better known as Haystack Calhoun and his "shtick" or "angle" as it is called in wrestling was to wear Oshkosh farmer jeans, a horseshoe around his neck, and to wrestle barefoot. Haystack, who weighed 600 pounds took on the persona as a good natured farm boy who would never break a rule.
  Fifteen thousand were there and the thing I  remember about this the most is the incredible roar that Haystack evoked with just two kind words. He entered the ring, waved and merely said "Hi neighbor!". I couldn't believe the roar of the crowd echoing the same two words. In wrestling, this is called a "pop". However this wasn't a "pop". It was a 21 gun salute!
  I then thought to myself, WHAT IF, I addressed every stranger as Neighbor, Friend, Sir or Madam?
WHAT IF, I did it every time I went out. Wouldn't it be possible that JUST MAYBE one other individual may follow suit?
  Haystack Calhoun became terribly diabetic. He had a leg amputated, and spent his latter years in McKinney Texas in a grossly rusted trailer. Author Jim Wilson stated that Haystack died "Without an audience or a dollar". I sometimes wonder if he would have died with a little more pride if he knew that just one person remembers his "angle" and thought that his  art wasn't such a bad thing to copy. I wonder indeed.

Brawn and Bravery: BRUNO SAMMARTINO This article first appeared ...

Brawn and Bravery: BRUNO SAMMARTINO
     This article first appeared ...: BRUNO SAMMARTINO      This article first appeared in the Commemorative issue number XVI of Red, White and Green- the official journal of th...

   JOHNNY VALIANT: A LIFE WORTH REMEMBERING

By Peter Vuono

    Tommy Sullivan wanted to be a pro wrestler from an early age. Fortunately, young Tom grew up in the North Hills section of Pennsylvania where the legendary Bruno Sammartino resided. Bruno was very approachable and young Tom asked Bruno about how one could get into the business. Bruno took him under his wing and put Tom in touch with military veteran Eddie Farhat(The Sheik) of Detroit. Sullivan became a roadie and was later trained to wrestle by Al Costello of the Fabulous Kangaroos.
   Tom changed his name to John L. Sullivan and wrestled from 1969-1973 as a "Face" in the WWWF. I saw him wrestle in the Roseland Ballroom  in Taunton MA during this time and Wrestling Revue Magazine had made him"Rookie of the Year".
   After departing from the WWWF,Sullivan joined the AWA and serendipitously met up with Jim Fanning who was better known as Jimmy Valiant. Shortly there after, the Valiant Brothers were born and returned to the WWWF where they twice won the world tag-team championships and during one tenure, for over a year.
   Sullivan, who was now known as Johnny Valiant was funny, quick witted and a great worker. He made a lateral change and became a manager of Hulk Hogan, Brutus Beefcake, Dino Bravo and Greg Valentine. When his services as a manager had reached it's peak, he worked as "enhancement talent" until his release from the WWF in 1988.
  He would then work as an independent and it was shortly thereafter that I met him when he worked for Walter Kowalski. . He came into the locker room immediately striking up a conversation as to how he craved his beloved "Parodi" cigars. He asked me about Rocky Marciano and how close we were from Rocky's homestead. He mentioned that he read a great deal about Rocky's life and was very interested in the undefeated champ. He posed for many a picture and made it clear that it was a pleasure to do so. Everyone else in the ;locker room got the same red carpet treatment from the former two time world champ.
  Then,on April 4, 2018, Johnny tried to cross a major highway on foot at 5:30 AM  back in his native North Hills. He was struck by a truck and died upon arrival to the hospital.
  Just three days later, my wife and I were listening to Dr. Charles Stanley's sermon to his congregation at Atlanta Baptist. Dr. Stanley posed a question to them where he asked,"What will you be remembered for?". When he said this, I thought of Johnny. I didn't lament his passing because of the fame, the titles or the money. I thought of him because of the way he treated me.
  Dr. Stanley's message was answered; we will be remembered for  not material things, or titles or power or money  but for our kindness toward others.This is why I felt so sad about Johnny's passing and this is why Johnny Valiant's life is certainly one worth remembering.


"Three things in human life are important; the first is to be kind, the second is to be kind and the third is to be kind"- Mother Teresa