Evan Golinsky

A SYMBOL OF LAUGHTER AND LIGHT

Miami Palmetto Senior High School senior Evan Golinsky knows the joys comedy can bring to others because he learned it from someone special: Dan Golinsky, his father.

Dan Golinsky passed away on Nov. 12, 2016 due to a traumatic brain injury he suffered after a car accident. Evan, a freshman at the time, had to navigate high school without his parent and role model. “He was in a coma for about 11 months,” Evan said. “He was…in a minimally conscious state for that entire time.”

This tragedy significantly affected Evan and the rest of his family, but he decided to make some positive change out of the situation and start an annual fundraiser honoring his dad.

The Golinsky Comedy Club, under Evan’s direction, donates its profits to the Brain Trauma Foundation, which works to ensure that doctors and scientists can find better ways to treat traumatic brain injuries so that no family has to go through the loss that the Golinsky family did.

“I love comedy. My dad loves comedy,” Evan said. “We established a fundraiser that was best representative of his life, and something that could best make light of a horrible tragedy.” To date, the annual Golinsky Comedy Club has held three events, with comedians ranging from Dave Berry to Palmetto alumni Joe Largo. Because of Evan’s dedication to the event, he has raised upwards of $75,000 for the Brain Trauma Foundation, a testament to his love for his father and for comedy. Evan cites his father as one of the people who has had the biggest impact on his day-to-day demeanor.

“He’s definitely made me a positive person…He valued education. He always pushed us to succeed in school, to try hard,” Evan said. These values paid off, as Evan recently secured an early decision acceptance to the University of Pennsylvania, the school he will attend next fall.

“He’s definitely the strongest person I’ve ever met, for sure. He doesn’t let what

happened to him define him, but he builds himself off of it instead,” Palmetto senior and Evan’s best friend Eli Graff said. “How he turned such a tragedy into such a great thing for so many people has really been a very rewarding experience for me to see as a friend. It makes me feel proud, and I’m just really glad that I’m experiencing all he’s achieved right by his side all these years.”

Evan wants to further expand the comedy club, eventually setting up a college scholarship for students who have lost a parent and securing even more well-known comedians such as Larry David for the event. He plans to pass off the comedy club to his younger sister, sophomore Marlee Golinsky, and his family friend, Cooper Menachem, after he graduates.

“He’s very good at talking to people,” Marlee said. “It’s very easy to talk to him, and people want to talk to him. He’s just a good person overall, especially to his family.”

Ultimately, losing his father was not the only hardship Evan would face over the course of his lifetime. In 2017, as a sophomore, he lost his home due to Hurricane Irma.

Despite the difficulties he has experienced, Evan continues to look for the positive side and the humor in life. Dan Golinsky’s legacy of light lives on in Evan’s life and the lives of countless others who have been positively affected by the Comedy Club and the money it has raised for brain trauma research.

“Of all the curveballs life might throw at you, all the tragedies you might experience, the best way to go about it is to be positive and through that even laugh,” Evan said. “Spread that positive energy and vibe to everyone…That’s what he would have wanted and I’m sure he was proud that we took that approach.”

Nicole Markus Print Editor-in-Chief n.markus.thepanther@gmail.com