MACON - Attorney Philip Dolci worked in Illinois for seven years in the sometimes circus-like environment of the criminal courtroom. <br>
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But five years ago he ran off to join an actual circus, where he feels at home among elephants, white tigers, clowns, tightrope walkers, trapeze artists and a human cannonball. <br>
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The 39-year-old Dolci said, ``I'm living my dream, and it's wonderful. Every time we can make a child smile, it's worth a million dollars.'' <br>
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Well, not literally. Dolci won't give the exact figure, but he said his current salary is less than a third of what he made as a lawyer. <br>
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Now he has the only job he ever wanted as a child -- traveling to more than 100 cities a year as ringmaster, dog trainer and spokesman for the Sterling And Reid Brothers Circus. <br>
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The circus stopped in Macon this week, and the show moves to Augusta on February ninth-tenth. <br>
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Dolci saw a circus for the first time at age six, and his obsession grew with time. <br>
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He said, ``I always knew I would one day join the circus. It was just something I always wanted to do. I just always thought I would retire first before I joined.'' <br>
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In 1996, he took a month's vacation to Alaska to travel with a circus and train performing dogs. The trip inspired him to give up his law practice, but it took another 14 months to clear up all his pending cases. <br>
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Dolci said, ``I had a retirement party. The next day I joined the circus full-time.'' <br>
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Sterling And Reid has 160 performers and a crew of 40 workers who set up and dismantle the circus at each stop.
