Special Thanks

    ~Special Thanks to You, the Fans~

First & foremost, The MGT., et. al., would like to extend special thanks to everyone visiting this site.  To all those enjoying the opportunity to relive some wonderful memories.  To all those who choose to share in return.  To all those who choose to join in the fight to get the show released to DVD.

There are many who not only fought to keep the show on the air in 1987, but have been fighting for 20 years to get the show released to the public.  There are many who have come to believe it will never happen.  None of these people have failed nor are they wrong in feeling dejected by the continual roadblocks.  They are the reason this website is being used to continue the fight they so lovingly started.

As Simon said, "Think Positive!!!"  As Randall said, "You've just got to believe in it!!!"  As Rinaldo said, "Follow your dream.  It's the key to everything." **

This also brings to mind a line from Miracle on 34th Street - "Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to."

I think David would agree that it is often easier said than done, but worth doing, nonetheless.  If all you are able to do is think positive and/or keep the faith, then you are making a great contribution to the cause.  For that we thank you!

~Special Thanks to David Rappaport~

I would like to take this opportunity to extend a personal thank you to David Rappaport.

No matter how hard I try, Dave, I will never be able to thank you enough.  You remain the most positive influence in my life.  Just by being yourself, you were able to teach a timid, frightened, verbally & emotionally abused 16 year old girl that she didn't have to settle for "the slot assigned to"* her.  You gave me the courage to try anything.  The courage to fly & make my own way.  The courage to just be myself no matter how others have & may still try to mold me to their whims.  All because I wanted to be just like you.  It may have taken me 20 years to get it anywhere near right, but I'm here & still working at it.  You've brought me a long way, baby!!! (and I mean that with the utmost respect)

I knew you were a kindred spirit from the first moment I saw you.  It's really quite amusing that some people have assumed our similarities might only be skin deep.  What we have in common runs far deeper than that - inside, not out.

I always thought your outside was just as lovely as your inside.

Thank you for working so hard to change the world - your world in particular.  For choosing to not just take the road less traveled, but to make your own road when those available weren't good enough.  It is still making all the difference.  That you had to leave this life so soon will always be heartbreaking.  That you left this world better than you found it is greatly appreciated by many more than just me.  I am eternally grateful for all that you've done for me & so sad that you had to be so far away from your family, especially your own child, for this to happen.  Bittersweet doesn't even begin to describe it.

Your physical presence is greatly missed, but your spiritual presence is still felt by one & all.  You are still my guiding force.  My heart, my soul, my love, admiration & respect are yours - first, last & always.  I give them gladly to one who gave me so much more.  May the work that I do in homage to you help you to find the peace that you seek.

My love & respect, as always, to your family, friends & loved ones.

Jessica Markoff Chaney - The MGT.

~Special Thanks to Doug Barr~

For all of your work, but especially for your work in The Wizard.  Please don't ever think that this website or our admiration is only for David.  Just by being a part of this show you became an important & positive part of our lives.  Everyone associated with the show has.  Alex Jagger was a great character & you did a marvelous job with him.  The depth of soul that you were able to portray through Alex has probably helped more people than you will ever know.  The MGT. included.  You are always welcome to have any input in this site, if you wish.

Thank you for taking the time to view the site.  We are all pleased that you like it & hope you visit often.  Thank you for sending a personal message to include on the site.  It is an honor to have you included in any way possible.  It is, after all, just as much your site as it is ours.

On a personal note, it is truly an honor for me to be spoken of so highly by you & in the same breath in which you speak so highly of the show & everyone in it.  Yes, especially David.

**Mr. Barr is co-owner of Hollywood & Vine Cellars in Napa Valley, California.  I will list a link to their website as soon as I receive permission.**

~Special Thanks to Marge & Priscilla Weems~

For agreeing to be apart of this website & sharing the Endangered Species pictures that already appear on The David Rappaport Pages website.

Thank you, Priscilla, for everything you endured in that episode.  The cold temperatures, the costumes (or lack thereof), the ocean, the glue, etc.  Your portrayal of Linda Winthrope touched hearts & inspired more people than you may ever know.

**Priscilla Weems has her own page in the MySpace website featuring pictures as well as some of her songs from her latest CD.  I will list a link to that page as soon as I receive permission.**

~Special Thanks to Michael Berk & Douglas Schwartz~

For believing in David, The Wizard, & me. For fighting so valiantly to get the show on the air in the first place, to keep it on the air when the studio wanted to cancel it mid-season, & to keep it on the air past the first season even though others made sure that no matter how many fans wrote in it was not meant to be.

May your unending faith & belief in this work be a constant inspiration to everyone. May the work through this website bring you comfort in the knowledge that The Wizard has never been & will never be forgotten.

~Special Thanks to Michael Berk~

Whose proactive generosity has turned this website from merely the first fansite for The Wizard into the Official & Definitive Cyber Home of The Wizard. I may never find the words to express how much your warmth, generosity, kindness, enthusiasm & trust mean to me. Thank you for preserving the truth all these years. Sharing it with me so willingly. Giving me the opportunity to become such a deep part of The Wizard's legacy by allowing me to help you share that legacy with the world. Trusting my judgement to do the right thing.

I must also thank you for taking it upon yourself to contact Frankie Leigh.

~Special Thanks to Douglas Schwartz~

My 'silent partner'. Thank you for being a part of this site, even if it is just allowing me to include you on all email updates.

~Special Thanks to Frankie Leigh~

For becoming a part of the site. For all of your hard work on the Petition List & inspiring so many others. For finding the strength to leave a message on this site for all the fans to share. For being a great friend & support. For trusting me with David's memory & legacy.

~Special Thanks to Irving Rappaport~

My somewhat 'silent partner'. Thank you being a part of this site by answering some of my questions & allowing me to keep you updated via email. For keeping the rest of the family informed. For being so supportive & trusting me with your brother's memory & legacy.

~Special Thanks to the rest of the Cast & Crew~

As mentioned on the homepage, this entire website is an enormous thank you to everyone & everything - human, animal, vegetable & mineral - who worked on the show in any capacity.  It is difficult (yes, even for the resident wordsmith) to put into words how much these 19 episodes have meant to each & every one of us.  Even 20 years later, they have not lost their deep meaning & impact.  Fans of all ages learned so much from those shows.  It must have been difficult for you to see that you had a following, but you did then & continue to now.  A massive & loyal following.  We hope that you can feel the positive impact of your work somewhere in these pages.  You are always welcome to have input in this site.

~Special Thanks to Mot~

For creating The David Rappaport Pages website & for allowing me to include a link to it on my site.  Your site is such a beautiful & respectful tribute to David's life & legacy.  I hope that visitors to this site will take the opportunity to visit your site, & vice versa.

And thank you for the lovely listing you gave this website on your links page & Wizard page.  I don't think I will ever find the words to convey just how great of a compliment your description truly is.

~Special Thanks to Cathy & David King~

The Aztec Dagger picture is courtesy of a postcard which David K. received directly from David R., which makes it very special indeed.  I can't thank Cathy & David K. enough for not only letting me post the picture on this site to share, but, also, for sending me a copy to keep on my desk to inspire me every day.  Very, very special thanks go to you, David K., for finding it in your heart to share even a part of something so deeply meaningful to you.  I understand more than you will ever know.

~Special Thanks to Cathy King~

I would be amiss to not thank Cathy specifically for all of her time, patience & understanding.  She has been a loyal, loving & devoted fan & friend of David Rappaport's since 1986 & I am proud to call her one of my best friends.  Cathy, through her work over the years, has kept the official David Rappaport fan club alive in one form or another & allowed me to become an honorary member of the original by sharing her fan club treasures with both Mot & myself &, subsequently, the universe.  In turn, she has become a member of my personal & private fan club, which started the first time I saw Time Bandits.  (somewhere between 1981 & 1986, but I was too much in love to remember the exact year.  too painfully shy to join the public fan club or even write to Mr. R. directly.)

Thank you for fighting to keep the show on the air in 1987 & for continually fighting to have the show released to the public.  Thank you for listening & sharing.  Thank you for taking such great care of David's memory & legacy.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of everything long before this website was created.  You have inspired me the most.  Thank you for all of your time & help with pictures & this website.  It is an honor to share the dream of this website with you.

"'And death shall have no dominion.'  We know that, you & me." - Truly, Madly, Deeply, 1991

The MGT.

~Special Thanks to the Gang at Simon's Workshop~

This is a general thank you from The MGT. to everyone in Simon's Workshop for not only letting me join, but also (ahem) for letting me stay.  You're a brave lot & very, very lovely.  These people have, in one way or another, been the main source of inspiration for this website.

Specific very special thanks go to Viv for following your dream to create the Workshop & for allowing it to continue, come what may.  Also, thank you for allowing me to include a link to the group on this site.

If you are interested in joining the fun in Simon's Workshop, please follow the link listed on the Wizard Links page.

~Special Thanks to Nabil Shaban~

For being an incorrigible trailblazer, equal rights activist & ~ most importantly ~ an all-around lovely human being.  For continuing to look for ways to speak on David Rappaport's behalf & not allow his legacy to fade into nothing more than derogatory rumors & hearsay.  For surprising us all by being kind enough to try to alert David's family as to the existence of this fansite.  For surprising me, personally, by so warmly welcoming me into your world.  For leaving a message on the Memory Page & being the first to person outside the US to sign the Petition.  Hopefully, your message, Doug Barr's, & Frankie Leigh's will encourage others who knew & loved David to do the same.

Thank you for constantly inspiring us all through your life & work.  (Your emails to me, especially.)  Your poems, pictures, movies, interviews, etc.  Thank you for allowing me to act as North American Sales Representavtive for Sirius Book Works Publications.  It's a pleasure to include you in this website.  An even greater pleasure to have you as a friend, pen pal & kindred spirit.

**Copies of Dr. Shaban's anthology of poetry & graphic art, 'Dreams My Father Sold Me', is available in the US through the Dead Parrot Discs website.  His book 'The First to Go', a play about the Disabled Holocaust in Nazi Germany, is available in the US & North America.  Please check out Nabil's website, as well as some of his videos, through the links on the General Links page.**

~Special Thanks to Monica Davis~

For all of your technical work on this website - helping to find the visitor counter & helping me to set up the mouse tail special effect.  It's always a blast to work on this website with you.

Monica, one of my long time friends, is a high school Spanish & German (yes, I said AND) teacher who has been gracious enough to allow me to list the links to the web pages she has created for her students.  The pages contain many fun games & activities, so please feel free to check them out for yourself via the General Links page.

~Special Thanks to SAEC/Kinetic Vision~

For donating the much needed equipment, facilities & assorted bits of gray matter that made starting this website possible.  SAEC/Kinetic Vision specializes in Finite Element Analysis, Design & spectacular Computer Animations.  You can check them out via the General Links page.

~Special Thanks to Terry, Florence, TJ, et. al.~

All of these people are helping me to find all of the other wonderful Wizard pictures appearing on this site.  Pictures that might otherwise have ended up in a garbage dump somewhere.  If anyone has any pictures or other memorabilia they don't want or have room for, please, please, please contact The MGT. at the email address below.  This includes anything for David Rappaport, Wizard or otherwise.  It will all get a good & loving home.

If anyone has pictures that they would simply like to have appear on this site, please email The MGT.  I only need a scanned copy.  I would never ask anyone to give up their treasures if they don't want to.

~A Final Thought - For Now~

There will be more people & groups added to this page as time goes on.  Please keep in mind that this site is under constant invention.  This "random factor in every equation"* has been let loose in cyberspace on a Wizardly mission so universe only knows what I'm likely to come up with next. ('cause I certainly don't)  But isn't that what a Markov Chain is all about?

The MGT.

** Randall's quote from Time Bandits, 1981.  Rinaldo's quote from The Bride, 1985.

* 7th Trip: The SNAFU Principle chapter from The Golden Apple, 2nd book in the Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson.  Text describing &/or referring to Markoff Chaney. (see David Rappaport's bio page)

page updated February 12, 2008

email: themgt@thewizardtvfansite.com

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