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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, February 21, 1958
Magic Night
By Celestine Sibley
Columnist Atlanta Constitution
Lights blazed in the little house
on Mathieson drive where the
Northside School for Exceptional
Children operates in the daytime.
It was 8 p.m. but the school was
full of children—groups of eight or
10 gathered around tables in two
or three rooms, their fingers busy,
their eyes bright and intent on the
men who sat before them.
“What’s going on?” I whispered
to a little boy near me and he
lifted his shining face to give me
a quick, exultant answer before
he returned to his work.
“It’s magic night!” he said.
Magic Night has come to be a
regular thing at this private school
for youngsters who are having
learning troubles and, because of
its apparent success, it may soon
spread to the various schools for
polio, cerebral palsy victims and
other handicapped children.
A group of local amateur magi
cians, members of the Julian V.
Boehm Assembly, Atlanta Society
of Magicians, is responsible.
Seymour Kessler, a Whitehall
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of Happiness
street merchant and magic hobby
ist, told me about It. Time and time
again in his own circle of friends
he has seen sleight of hand and
magical skills effect changes in
people. Once at the suggestion of
a local judge he worked with a
boy who was emotionally upset,
skipping school and on the verge
of delinquency. The ability to mys
tify and entertain certain people
with a few simple tricks of magic
gave this boy confidence and
brought him pleasure and a sense
of achievement, returning him to
school.
But another friend of Mr. Kess
ler’s, an old fishing pal named
Charles Reiss, is really responsible
for the present magicians’ project
among retarded and handicapped
children. Mr. Kessler taught Mr.
Reiss a little magic when the two
of them went on a fishing trip
one time and the fish refused to
bite. The hobby so delighted Mr.
Reiss he continued to pursue it
and to acquire new skills. Not long
ago he went to the Mayo Clinic for
correction of a war injury and
while he was there he began en
tertaining other patients with feats
of magic. Then for fun he taught
some of the patients to perform
magic themselves. The result was
a tremendous lift in patient morale.
While doctors at various hospitals
around the country, including the
Warm Springs Foundation, approv
ed the project, Mr. Reiss presented
his ideas on magic therapy to his
fellow members of the Society of
American Magicians.
“It’s still in the experimental
stage,” Mr. Kessler admitted. “We
don’t know a great deal about it
but we do know that these child
ren enjoy it.”
William W. Edwards Jr., direc
tor of the Northside school, listen
ing to the excited clamor in the
next room as a little boy caused a
coin to disappear and reappear,
smiled.
“It’s been wonderful for them,”
he said. “They would come back to
school every night if they could
have this.”
To make sure that the magic
doesn’t lose its luster for them,
Mr. Kessler and his magic society
committee — Walter H. Harris,
Harold R. Martin and Miles E.
Hess, president of the society—give
the lessons for an hour only every
other week. This allows the young
sters time to practice and gives
the event the flavor of rarity.
Mr. Kessler’s young son, Walter,
accompanies his father and acts as
a prop man. He has been learning
magic since babyhood and has quite
a repertoire of tricks.
The magicians insist that they
have no idea of making profes
sionals out of retarded or handi
capped youngsters. They only hope
to give them a means of self-ex
pression and a sense of accomplish
ment, improving coordination and
timing.
“Magic is to make people happy,”
as Mr. Kessler said. And it’s cer
tainly doing that at the Northside
school.
Man was created alone, •>
for the sake of peace £
among men, that one might
not say to his fellow: ❖
‘My father was greater £
than thine.’ a
—Mishnah, Sanhedrin, $
iv. 37 $
hurd hroi.
C. H. Byrd - J. T. Byrd
Logansville, Ga. ;
Tel. 2181 j
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