Charles T. Zuis (Chazoo)

Known as  Chazoo the Magician, Charles  a member of the S.A.M.  for 24 years died  May 16 , 2011.    In his 80 years he had accomplished a great deal and  prided himself on visiting every state in the union,. (except Alaska) After finishing service in the US Navy in 1949 he then spent an additional four years in the Naval Reserve.  He earned a BA degree  in Public Relations  from Utica College of Syracuse University and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the Catholic University in 1964.  During his life he immersed himself in multiple occupations from  Fuller Brush salesman  to  a printer, an ad manager for a newspaper, director of a Chamber of Commerce.  Charles  was a Real Estate Broker,  sold insurance and was best known as a fundraiser for many Catholic Churches.    Charley  worked as a clown and an advance man for the Billie Martin Circus in New York State . He worked in Baltimore, Washington DC, Wilkes Barre , PA. and Pasadena ,CA  and later joined PA#1  in NY . Chazoo was active in every Assemblyin the cities where he worked. He was president of the DC  Assembly # 23 in 1993 and in Wilkes Barre # 160.  He also belonged to IBM Ring #101 in  Utica  NY.  He joined  the Academy of Magical Arts and was a regular at the FFFF convention each year.  His true love was always magic. Chazoo   was one of the “Magic Kings”  who founded the “ Hall  of Fame of Famous Unknowns”  in 1988  in Herkimer, New York  where he purchased  an historic farm built in 1776.  The old barn was converted to a museum and each year has been the home of  “ParlorMagic” one day convention the first  weekend of June.   On June 4, a broken wand ceremony was performed at the convention by Dean George Schindler.