I'm reserving this area for your stories! Have you met Samuel E. Wright or seen him perform? Send your stories to me and I'll put them up immediately!

This story is one that I love too much to not put up, if the author would rather it not be up, please email me.

While in college I worked parttime in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. But, I didn't start there until mid-1991, and I suppose that the majority of any craze in the park associated with The Little Mermaid had already died down. Also, our first child wasn't quite 1 at the time--I don't think he was ready to appreciate Ariel's story. Although I had seen The Little Mermaid on video once, I just wasn't aware of who Sam Wright was.

Years later, we moved back to the area where I grew up, in upper-state South Carolina. The following Spring I was in dire need of a new job, so I started a parttime position at a local performing venue as a runner.

As a runner, I got to do some interesting things, like escorting performers through the theme park where the venue is located, and transporting them back and forth to their hotels.

At this point I had 3 kids, a copy of The Little Mermaid soundtrack, three years of Disney theme park experience, I had even led our college band in a Little Mermaid medley as a student conductor, but still I had no idea who Sam Wright was.

Several shows my first year were geared towards children; one was a performance by Sam Wright. He had even coordinated with a local dance studio to have some children dance and sing on stage with him.

My task was to pick Sam up at his hotel and bring him to the venue. Along the way, he pulled out a little plush Sebastian. He asked me if it was OK to pop a cassette in so that he could "practice."

Well, after a few minutes of hearing this Sebastian-like voice, and watching him play with this little toy, I rather humbly asked him the inevitable "Are you the guy...?"

Before I could finish the question, he answered that he was. Boy did I feel stupid!

Well, we talked throughout the day, and I learned that he was from Camden, SC. That's not all that far from where I grew up. Since it was summertime, and we were both from the South, I figured he would probably enjoy some watermelon. So I made a trip over to a local produce stand and bought some for the catering staff to prepare.

The next day we took our kids to see the show and I learned just how popular Sam...er, Sebastian had been. He gave my son a gift, even autographed it for us. That Christmas Santa brought a couple of videos that Sam & Sebastian had made together. We even saw Sam on TV when he made an appearance on the Disney Christmas special.

I cannot express to you the joy in my heart when I think about Sam Wright. He is one of the most down-to-earth people that I have ever met. A little crazy perhaps, but very kind, very gentle, very personable, and very giving.

When The Little Mermaid was re-released in theaters I took the whole family to see it (four kids now--WHOA!) I felt more a part of that show than ever having met the skinny man with the huge voice.

I wish that I could thank him for the happiness that he's brought to our lives.

This story is from John J. Bailey, who had Samuel Wright for a teacher.
There is a lot I would like to say about Sam. I know that he is an excellent artist. He gave my family a painting a while back. I also know that at that time he was working on a book, contents I can't reveal because he may very well be still working on it. I have always known Sam to bring a smile into everyones life just by his upbeat personality. I remember Sam in Tap Dance Kid, Enos and pretty much everypiece of work that he did. On your fun facts I remember that story about his roomate. True! I also remember his audition for I believe that it was for Heat Of The Night, unfortunately he did not get that part. I remember The two children He has, but there may be another by now. Dee is his eldest daughter, just like Sam and a smile that would knock your socks of. She, from what I remember, is not afraid to act or perform for anyone; she, at that time, was probably around 6 years old. Sammy by now may be a middle child, but a mirror image of Sam, also a character. I wonder how they are doing now. Mandy, his wife, I belive was teaching Jazz dance back then and I am sure she still is. Well I will let you enjoy this for awhile.

This is from Joe Padro, who was neighbors with Samuel Wright and his family.
My name is Joe Padro and I lived on the same block as Sam did when I was a teenager. I'm 41 years old now and happily married to my college sweetheart for 21 years now. We have three great kids and live in Long Island. I used to walk my Alaskan Husky (Nova) and Sam had two Huskys. Occasionally we would walk our dogs together. If I recall he lived on the 4th floor with his wife who was quite attractive and had a British accent. Sam was always an upbeat guy and always made me feel good after having a conversation with him. Usually these conversations took place while walking our dogs. Anyway, I've attempted to contact him once but had no luck. My thirteen year old, Sabel, tried out for a part in the Lion King a few years ago. A mutual acquaintance, Phylicia Pierce, invited my daughter to try out. Unfortunately, she was a little too big for the Nala part. Well, I'm not going to bore you anymore, but I hope Sam gets to read these emails sent to him. He's really a very cool, down to earth guy. At least that's how I remember him.