In early June 2011, my friend Eugene Johnson and several members of his family were killed in Maryland by a drunk driver. Eugene was only 52 I believe. He was a super nice fellow, always a smile on his face and always the first to laugh at a joke. He went by the stage moniker of The Magical Genie. I met Eugene through the Society of American Magicians Assembly #252 back in the 90s. In fact, it was because of Eugene that I started going back to the meetings of the very group I started!
In keeping with the traditions of magic, Assembly #252 held a Broken Wand Ceremony for him during the July meeting. Present were the MidAtlantic Regional Vice President David Bowers who came down from Pennsylvania to conduct the ceremony. Because I probably knew Eugene better than the rest of the current membership, I made sure to say a few words about my friend. The Broken Wand Ceremony dates back to Houdini. Magicians traditionally break a wand to signify that this persons magic has passed on to the next world.
His obituary also appeared in the August issue of MAGIC Magazine and I expect it to appear in the next issue of M-U-M which is the official magazine of the Society of American Magicians.
Farewell Magical Genie!
No comments:
Post a Comment