The President’s Message
Travels in November took us back to Austin to hear S.A.M. Assembly 206 member Richard Garriott tell tales of his trip to the International Space Station. His video presentation was quite entertaining and his stories about preparation for the journey were fascinating. He regaled us with humerous anecdotes about his efforts to make a magic video with other magicians aboard the Space Station. Assembly 206 members turned out in large number for this most memorable meeting.
I am looking forward to visiting other magic clubs in Texas in the coming months. Austin Ring 60’s Banquet and Show on January 18 is next on the agenda and a visit to Fort Worth is on the calendar for March 5th. Visits to several other clubs are being scheduled. While other magic clubs may not have astronaut members, each club has enough magic talent to reach from here to the moon.
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Royal Brin has faithfully filled the position of TAOM Legal Advisor for many years. He served in World War II as Lieutenant, Senior Grade, U.S.N.R., mainly in the South Pacific. A native Dallasite he came by magic naturally, being a cousin of the great Nate Leipzig. His first public stage appearance of note was with Howard Thurston as the winner of a contest for young magicians. Several of his effects and routines have been published in J. B. Bobo’s Coin Magic, Rufus Steele’s card books, and many magic magazines. His closest magicial friends have included Marvin Roy, Mike Rogers, and Jay Marshall. His daughter Janice often joined him on stage as an assistant in earlier days; today, he performs mostly close-up magic. Royal was President of TAOM in 1954 and served as I.B.M. International President in 1969-70. He and his wife Carol still enjoy and frequently attend magic conventions around the country. Truly, a “royal” family of magic!
Fort Worth magician Louis Daniel was honored by his peers at the November meeting of the Fort Worth Magicians Club on the occasion of his 78th birthday. Louis has been a fixture of Texas magic for many years, contributing his artistic talents to numerous magic publications and conventions. As a renowned illustrator and artist in North Texas, he is well-known for western theme illustrations. He has created countless illustrations for various magic organizations and numerous program covers for TAOM, SAM, and IBM conventions, including his masterpiece cover for the 2008 Fort Worth TAOM convention. Our association is indebted to him for designing the current official TAOM logo. Texas magicians are indeed fortunate to have benefited from the many talents of this remarkable gentleman.
When you reach the age of 87, you might consider letting your doves fly free and putting your rabbit up for adoption, but not TAOM’s venerable Ramon Galindo. He is still going strong, having recently returned from a trip to Mexico when, at that country’s most prestigious convention of “œmago de magia”, he was honored as one of the Magicians of the Decade. Ramon joined the Texas Association of Magicians in 1949 and has been a stalwart member ever since. He is well-known throughout the magic community as “Tailor to the Stars”. He was president of TAOM in 1993, when Austin’s Ring 60 hosted a memorable convention. Bravo, Ramon; viva la magia!
Congratulations to John Moering, a fellow Texan, friend, and long-time TAOM membe who is closing out a most successful run as editor of the Society of American Magicians magazine, “M.U.M”. Dallasite John Moering epitomizes the traditional tale of “local boy makes good” His leadership has elevated the level of magic articles and information in the magazine during his tenure at the helm. John has proven that magicians born and bred in Texas help shape the world of magic. We wish him well in future endeavors and trust that his roots will draw him back to the Texas magic scene.
With a background in magic that spans over 30 years, Scott Wells is a full-time performer, publisher, author, dealer, teacher, lecturer, collector, designer, artist and friend to magicians the world over. The energy business moved Scott from his home in Illinois to Oklahoma, Nebraska and several cities throughout Texas. Scott retired from trading energy futures in 2006 to pursue his passion and become a full time professional magician. He and his wife Kathy have two sons who live in Dallas. He enjoys snow skiing, golf, videography and writing. Scott’s interest in magic began at age eight but didn’t flourish until adulthood. He loves close-up and card magic, but mostly performs mentalism and stand-up comedy magic at corporate affairs. One of his major goals is to perform magic on cruise ships. That goal was realized earlier this month. He is a member of many magic organizations and has held office on the Executive Committee of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. Scott has won many awards for his contributions to the magic community. He was president of the Texas Association of Magicians in 2000 for a most successful TAOM convention in Dallas. He is Dealer Chairman for Houston’s 2009 TAOM convention and his previous experience with magic conventions has proven invaluable in all aspects of convention planning.
I am happy to welcome many new and renewing TAOM members who may be receiving this newsletter for the first time. Thank you for your membership. Your dues are small, but the rewards are great. Several subscribers have asked about back issues of this monthly newsletter’. well, I’m happy to say that our illustrious webmaster Billy Godfrey has archived my deathless prose on the TAOM website. You can read previous newsletters by going to www.taom.org, clicking on the left -hand menu button “TAOM Houston 2009″, and then choosing the issue you’d like to read. Clicking on “2009 Houston” in the main body of the home page will take you directly to the Houston convention webpage at www.taom2009.com. If you have not yet visited the Houston 2009 convention site, please do so. We are proud of the line-up scheduled for next year’s magic extravaganza.
My personal thanks to all who have expressed their appreciation for the creation of this monthly TAOM newsletter. I’d also like to extend warm wishes for a wonderful Christmas and holiday season and trust that the new year brings you joy and prosperity.
Scott Hollingsworth, President