He was a musician, a songwriter and an actor – Michael Gresak was convinced that his life would be special.
|||Cape Town -
He was a musician, a songwriter and an actor – Michael Gresak was convinced that his life would be special. But on Wednesday afternoon his life was cut short after he drowned at Clifton’s Fourth Beach.
The 23-year-old had returned to finish his matric at Rosebank Progress College after dropping out of school when he was younger to pursue a career in theatre.
The day after a valedictory service on Tuesday night, where he landed the history prize, Gresak and fellow matric students decided to have a picnic at Clifton’s Fourth Beach.
According to Harold Idesis, Progress College’s principal, Gresak went for a swim and was caught in strong currents and pulled out to sea.
“He couldn’t get back,” said Idesis. “The other students phoned the police.
“I’m very proud of how my students reacted,” he added.
By 5.45pm on Wednesday Gresak’s body had been recovered by the NSRI.
June Howell, Gresak’s history teacher, said she couldn’t believe what had happened. Gresak had told her he was done with his practical education and ready to become an academic.
“He was such an insightful and intelligent young man,” she said. “He was very excited about the prospect of being accepted into UCT.”
While Gresak enjoyed entertaining his fellow pupils and teachers with songs, dancing and even rap routines, he was also very hungry for good grades.
“Every exam he wrote, he would fight for every mark,” she said.
“You must see his papers, all the marks have had corrections made to them. “He always had a different take on everything, he was very special,” she added.
Paul Griffiths, a teacher at the Waterfront Theatre School Gresak attended for four years, said what really stood out about the talented student was his sense of purpose.
“He was on this journey to find his purpose, and to have it cut short is a terrible thing,” he said.
Gresak was well-known for composing his own music and writing his own plays. Griffith said for the 23-year-old it was a way of communicating his completely different perception of the world to others.
Griffith also admired Gresak’s acting skills, which had earned the young actor the attention and friendship of actress Anthea Thompson.
“He was one of the few actors who was able to make the audience cry,” he said.
On his Facebook page, Gresak described himself as “a golden bullet sent through space at the beginning of time riding the wave of lightning stopping for no one”.
Police said an autopsy had not been completed and detectives were waiting for the relevant paperwork to be filed before the investigation into his death started.
kieran.legg@inl.co.za
Cadet News Agency
Cape Argus