Sword Swallower Makes Triumphant Return As He Battles Severe Health Issues
For decades, Johnny Fox has been a beloved figure at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Even as he battles serious health problems, Fox is back on stage this fall, thanks to support from friends.
When Johnny Fox was a boy, all his friends were obsessed with superheroes.
"Friends of mine were reading comics about Superman and Batman and I thought, 'You know, this is cartoons and made-up stories,' " he says. "I want a real superhero. There's got to be real superheroes out there."
When he was 8 or 9, his parents took him to the Eastern States Exposition near Springfield, Mass. That's where he found those real superheroes.
"I saw these big banners," he says. "One of them said: 'The Giant From Rekjavik, Iceland, 8 foot-8,' and it said 'Alive.' Another one said: 'The Lobster Boy, Alive.' Another one said: 'The Monkey Girl, Alive.' "
More than a half century later, Fox — now a
