Scott Magic Company

Retail operations of the Scott Magic Company have ceased due to the death of The Great Scott.

Magic supplies are available in Austin from Joe Lyons - 512-336-2800.

Fred “The Great Scott” Donaldson died on January 24, 2005 , of congestive heart failure. 

 Among the many mourning his passing are his wife and loving companion of 36 years Judy; daughter Carol Eisenbrei of Canton , Ohio ; sons Alan of Bastrop, Texas, and Corey of Akron, Ohio; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren, and scores of magicians he helped along the way, chief of whom is world-famous magic lecturer Cody Fisher.  He will be remembered by thousands of Austin children who thrilled to his entertaining skills as “The Great Scott” on stages and in homes throughout Texas . 

 He was born in Alliance , Ohio , on March 4, 1925 , to Helen and Kermit Donaldson.  His brother George died in 2004; his sister Jo Corey resides in West Virginia. 

 He enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and served honorably in the Pacific theatre and in post-war Japan as an hospital corpsman.  He graduated from Mount Union College , attended Dartmouth College , studied post-graduate at Johns-Hopkins University , and taught clinical procedures at the University of Tennessee School of Medicine in Memphis .  He was City Sanitarian for the cities of Alliance and Massillon , Ohio , before becoming Health Commissioner of the City of Canton .  In 1960, he joined the Public Health Service and served as Public Health Administrator for the Territory of Guam .  He was elected Fellow of the American Public Health Association and Fellow of the Royal Society of Health.  After serving as information officer for the Public Health Service in Austin in the 1960’s, he accepted a position as public health advisor to Governor Preston Smith and was responsible for creating the legislation that mandated immunization for schoolchildren in Texas .

 He retired from the health field in 1969 to pursue his avocation as a magician.  He and Judy formed the Scott Magic Company, performing magic and puppet shows and selling magic supplies to other magicians.  They were both very active in and officers of Austin Ring 60 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, Assembly 206 of the Society of American Magicians, and the Texas Association of Magicians.  He was honored with the Order of Willard by the Texas Association of Magicians in 1999 and with the Order of Merlin by the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1996.  He and Judy retired from performing in 1999, but continued to operate the magic shop from their home on Kramer Lane in north Austin .

 In later years, a new all-consuming hobby took them all over the U.S. – bird watching.  They traveled extensively to seek additions to their life list of almost 600 species.  Memorial donations may be made to the Travis Audubon Society, P. O. Box 40787 , Austin , TX 78704 .