John F. Connelly

( May 15, 1918-  May 17, 2011)

Former S.A.M Treasurer for more than 20 years, John Connelly died a few days after his 93^rd birthday.   David Goodsell described him very well..”The quiet men of magic are most admirable. Invariably they are the ones who have done it in the past….the quiet men merely smile and lend encouragement to the  “talkers””.  Though small in  stature  John was  large in  wisdom, spirit and  accomplishment.  During WWII he performed more than 2000 volunteer USO shows. He started with  a Gilbert Mysto Magic set  in 1929 after  seeing and experiencing the “Blackstone Show”  in Lynn MA where lived all of his life .   He played nightclubs and club dates with a 12-minute pantomime act.  He joined Assembly No.  9 in Boston in 1948.  He had a small mail order business and decided that the “security of a real job” was called for  so  he  went into civil service as a postal clerk .     In 1965 his interest in ESP and parapsychology led  him away  from manipulations and he developed a 40 minute lecture which  took him  to Japan where he became the first American performer to appear on Japanese TV.  In 1969 he was appointed by the National President of the S.A.M as Treasurer.  He was a dedicated man and was most responsible for developing the Witch City Assembly in.  Salem, Ma.    John Connelly was a Life Member and Honorary Member and since he never married he always considered the S.A. M as his family. We will miss our brother.