1953Born two months early at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Virginia. A nurse read his mother the odds. She said he would not die. He would thrive.
1963Ten years old, a Friday afternoon, a black-and-white television: the movie about Houdini.
13Got halfway out of a policeman's handcuffs at Pantano's. The policeman said he had a new Houdini on his hands. Built his first straitjacket from his sisters' sweatshirts.
1975Proposed to Georgina with a diamond inside a lemon. Paul Zill was best man.
1977–79Left a drafting job for $300 a week with the James E. Strates Shows. Three summers with the sideshow.
1980Moved to Sacramento. Built a booking business on a Yellow Pages ad somebody tried to kill.
1985Halftime for the Sacramento Kings, October 31.
OkinawaFollowed Georgina's Air Force posting and worked the island, where he met Marianne.
LaterLost his retirement to a Ponzi scheme. Lost a kidney. Lived for a while in a Honda Civic, shaving every morning. Kept going.
