(ABOVE and RIGHT) This was the obituary for Johnny appearing during January 1974 in "The Globe & Mail", Canada's national newspaper. Scan courtesy Joseph Giordmaine.

I think over and over again these tributes to Johnny captured his essential qualities: his expertise in magic, his affinity with his primary audience (children) and his magnificent generosity of spirit. Even today his name still conjures up incredibly happy and positive memories. I hope by reading this site you too have had such recollections rekindled. If you are discovering Johnny's legacy for the first time I hope that this site will give you some idea of what a truly magical fellow he really was.

But I do not want to end this anniversary update on Johnny's death. Johnny was all about life, about laughter, about the joy of everyday living. And so we will end our anniversary update with a look at Johnny back in 1935, just entering the prime of his career... on the next page...