Art Zorka found a new identity in Atlanta. In the process, he rediscovered an old love, found a new passion and took his family along for the ride.
Born Art Glick in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Zorka, and his wife, Maria, moved to Atlanta in 1966, three months after they got married. It was to make a fresh start as a couple, his wife said. And after a few years, that fresh start included a new surname. A couple of years after moving to Atlanta, Mr. Zorka, who was a videographer for Georgia Public Television, saw something in a hardware store at a mall in DeKalb County, that caught his eye: Magic.
“It was really a magic counter in the hardware store,” Mrs. Zorka said. “It was where a group of magicians would meet and talk about their techniques and he connected with that. When he was a child he always loved magic. Like with many people, magic can bring you out of yourself, and that is what it did for him.”
Mr. Zorka began to perform around town -- first with the help of his wife, and later his daughter -- and many times when it was time to get paid, the check was made out in his stage name, not his legal name. So to cut down on confusion, the Glicks became the Zorkas. It was a name that Mrs. Zorka came up with, but that ended up having a familial connection.
“I am not a superstitious person, but his grandfather was visiting us from New York, and asked how he picked the name Zorka,” she said. “And his grandfather told us Art had a Russian cousin whose first name was Zorka, and it struck us that these things came together like that.”
And things were still coming together for the Zorkas, even after 46 years of marriage. The couple celebrated Mr. Zorka’s 70th birthday on May 11, with dinner and a little star-gazing at Agnes Scott’s planetarium, before going home.
“He said he had such a great time,” his wife said. “We had no idea this was coming.”
Arthur Zorka, of Decatur, died suddenly at home of a suspected heart attack on May 16. His body was cremated and a memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m., Sunday at The Temple, Atlanta. Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care is in charge of arrangements.
In addition to magic, Mr. Zorka fell in love with astronomy, something that had already captured his wife’s interest. His interest was fueled after he bought her a telescope in the mid-'90s, said Philip Sacco, a friend and fellow astronomer.
“He started coming to the Atlanta Astronomy Club, not just to bring Maria, but to participate,” Mr. Sacco said. “He immediately found a vast interest, and he just took right off and started coming to all of the observing sessions.”
Last year, Mr. Zorka achieved an astronomical feat that fewer than 200 people in the country can claim, he earned the Master Observer Award from the Kansas City, Mo.-based Astronomical League. He achieved the designation in six years, which is no small accomplishment, Mr. Sacco said.
“It took me nine years to get mine,” he said. “But Art’s acuity allowed him to pick out these details that you have to be trained to see. He could see what many others couldn’t.”
And Mr. Zorka’s vision wasn’t limited to astronomy, he could also see what people needed, and he didn’t hesitate to deliver, his wife said.
“We didn’t have a lot, but he gave everything he had,” she said.
Mr. Zorka is also survived by his daughter, Juliana Zorka Thomas of Douglasville; and brothers, Robert Glick of Santa Fe, Calif., and Joe Glick, of Miami, Fla.
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