News Release
— FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: OCTOBER 21, 2016 —
Gamble Presents Paper at National Circus Conference
NORFOLK/VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.— Dr. Mort Gamble, senior vice president for advancement and external relations at Virginia Wesleyan College, co-presented a paper at the national Circus Historical Society convention in Sarasota, Florida, on Oct. 14.
“Little Caesar: The Secret Life and High-Flying Times of Arthur M. Concello” described the colorful career of a legendary circus trapeze artist and later manager of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Concello (1911-2001) is the subject of a forthcoming biography by Gamble and his co-author Maureen Brunsdale, Special Collections Librarian at the Milner Library, Illinois State University, Normal. Both are members of the Circus Historical Society and published authors on circus history, traditions, and performers. Milner Library contains extensive archives pertaining to circus history, especially the many trapeze acts that originated in the Bloomington and Normal area.
“Art Concello was a major figure in the circus business whose career coincided with, and in many ways helped to define, the last great days of the large tented circuses in America,” Gamble said. “He was a brilliant aerialist and an expert manager of The Greatest Show on Earth during many of its critical years as a big-top operation and its eventual transition to indoor-arena performances.”
“Sarasota is the former winter home of the Ringling circus, so we were delighted to have this year’s convention there.”
Gamble, who joined the Virginia Wesleyan staff in February 2016, contributed three chapters to the 2007 book The Many Worlds of Circus. Brunsdale co-authored with Mark Schmitt The Bloomington-Normal Circus Legacy: The Golden Age of Aerialists (2013). Gamble is the publicity chairman for the Circus Fans Association of America (www.circusfans.org).
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About Virginia Wesleyan College
Virginia Wesleyan College is Coastal Virginia’s premier private, national liberal arts college. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located on a 300-acre wooded campus in the dynamic education triangle of Norfolk/Virginia Beach, the College enrolls approximately 1,400 students. Undergraduate degrees include a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Social Work. Offering 33 majors, 30 minors and seven pre-professional programs (most popular: biology and business), the College has an average class size of approximately 13 students. Over 90 percent of Wesleyan’s new graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate school within one year. Find out more at www.vwc.edu.