Tim Madison

Features Tim Madison A puff of hope
Tim Madison 2/16/09

During his treatment five years ago, cancer survivor Leonard Burdek sought relief from the side effects of chemotherapy through the use of marijuana.
During Burdek’s six months of chemotherapy he had to face the possibility of being arrested for possessing the marijuana which eased the pain of his symptoms. Yet, on April 4, fear of imprisonment, fines and legal bills will change, thanks to the approval of medical marijuana by voters in the recent elections.

Features Tim Madison He’s alone, the man who stares into the camera; so tired, you can feel his exhaustion through the screen. The sand behind him, lit by two tiki torches and spiked with dried brush, is barren and uninviting. Bedraggled, unshaven, and thin, he speaks in a hoarse voice, gesturing to an encrusted item; an artifact, he explains, found in the remains of a Spanish galleon. The next item he wearily holds up to the camera has a familiar hue. “This, gentlemen...I don’t have to tell you what this is...”, the man’s tone, still tired, brightens. The item he’s referring to is a Spanish gold ingot. Mined in what was called the New World in the times the Spanish held dominion there hundreds of years ago, and lost to the sea in a shipwreck, the ingot was merely a part of the Caribbean’s massive underwater graveyard...until now.

Art Tim Madison Mike Sincic’s paintings are remarkably realistic for a blind man’s. He paints...shockingly well. The paintings are idyllic: beaches, sunsets and other nature scenes. After seeing his work, it seems impossible at first that a man who gets around with a cane and the help of a friend’s elbow could have created these works of art. As I watch him -- sweeping his cane in a wide swath at the crosswalk outside the coffee shop where I am meeting him for an interview -- I can’t help but doubt. Are there many naysayers?