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Nick Masullo was an award-winning songwriter living in the Arkansas Ozarks. Some of his writing was influenced by his experience with disability caused by an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis - Primary Progressive MS. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003, and the disease took away his ability to walk and within the last two years, play the guitar.
However, he was still writing music and essays toward the very end.
"Even after he had MS, three albums of his songs came up," said Emily Kaitz, who helped produce some of his albums.
His albums, sold at the Ozark Natural Foods store and through his Web site, included "Some Kind of Sign, " "Everything You've Got "and "The Lost Songs. "Many of the songs on "Everything You've Got "were inspired by his experiences with multiple sclerosis, Kaitz said.
"The amazing thing about Nick was... with each loss of abilities that he suffered, he adapted with grace and creativity and even humor," Kaitz said. "He didn't dwell on his own problems. He wasn't really depressed."
Some of Masullo's honors include Songwriter of the Year from the Ozark Music Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting at the North Arkansas Music Awards.
He was also a first-place winner once in the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting Competition and won an award for Best Contemporary Folk Song at the Winfield, Kan., Walnut Valley Festival.
Masullo came to Arkansas from New York and lived in the state for 36 years, Mulhollan said. He worked for the Ozark Cooperative Warehouse from the 1970 s until 2003, and Masullo was working as the general manager of the cooperative when he left.
He also volunteered for many years as a skating coach for the Special Olympics.
Nick died peacefully in his home with his wife and friends on Saturday evening, Sept. 6, 2008.
Nick has two sons, Clayton Yarri Davis and Chris Masullo.
Nick's grandson, Jacob, is the son of Yarri and his wife Aurora. Yarri is a geologist living in Texas.
Chris is a musician in New York City, Nicholas Nicholas
Nick has five sisters, Bo, Karen, Robin, Penny and Brenda.
