MAGIC MAN

By Peter Vuono


     Since 1990, in addition to teaching I decided to be a pro comedy magician. It was indeed a gratifying job making kids laugh as part of my work. I later incorporated it into the classroom and even, at times, used a  ventriloquist dummy to teach the kids with!
     However, there were a few secrets behind my act other then how to  perform the tricks.  In truth   I'm not always funny. When the show is over  the ones I love  the most see my weaknesses and frailties  However, every  so often, one serendipitously comes across a person who has the magical ability to make one smile and feel good about oneself for the entire day long after they have departed from him! Such a person is my friend Donny Samuelson who we lost January 27th.
    Donny had a miasma of talent. In addition to his college degree he was a walking encyclopedia of sports. He used this vast knowledge in enhancing his many positions as a counselor and recreational consultant; not to mention his gifted sports writing for a variety of newspapers. However Donny possessed a talent which this author thinks surpasses all the others. Donny made every individual he ever came across feel important; and with Donny, is was no magic act- it was authentic!
   For 15 summers, Donny was the greeter and charge' d'affaires of our beloved Duxbury Beach.
When he approached one's car, he exuded an incredible and authentic warmth which  attached itself to me as if placed there by osmosis and stayed with me the whole day. After 15 years of this warmth
I know that it will always be with me and Donny will never really be gone.
   Writer Robert Henri once said, "Why do we love the ocean? It is because it has some potent power  to make us think things we like to think". I certainly do not think that it was merely a coincidence that such a magical place would have as it's ambassador such an extraordinary man.