Showcase-Lynn Ruehlmann
How long have you been a storyteller? A looooooong time—a couple of decades. I started very slowly, though. I had never heard of a storyteller. No one ever told me stories growing up. There was a lot of reading of stories and attending theater in my background, though, so those served as my foundations. I had been doing a show with songs and poems and monologues in schools when I happened to take a class with a local television commentator, Jim Kincaid, just because I … Continue reading →
Showcase-Ruth Walkup
What do you remember as the first stories you heard? My father told my sister and me stories for bedtime when we were growing up in Africa where we had no TV, no tape recorders, and even no radio. He made up all the stories and incorporated elements we wanted to hear about. The Pink Princess lived in a pink castle with a moat of pink lemonade. The Whoazies lived ‘not far from Balagwala Zoo’. The Winkley Dobbles lived at … Continue reading →
Showcase-Gayle Turner
How long have you been a storyteller? Since they were called lies. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t trying to make sense of life, and stories were my tool for that job. As I child I’d pick up snippets of conversation and I’d piece them together trying to understand their context. My compilations did not always jive with the truth as my parents and other authority figures saw it. Hence, I remember my dad once saying, “You wouldn’t … Continue reading →
Showcase-Louise Tucciarone
It seems like I’ve been telling stories all my life. My dad was a storyteller and I loved to listen to him tell. In ’95 I attended a seminar presented by a storyteller and realized this was something I could do so I took on the title of storyteller in 1996. To further seal the deal, I had my first exposure to the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Any storyteller will tell you what a marvelous experience that is. … Continue reading →
Showcase-Sheila Arnold
How long have you been a storyteller? My family has informed that I was always the one telling stories, creating little plays and forcing people to listen and participate. However, I consider my start when my son was born. I was a single mother, and worked hard and long hours. For a while I worked at a group home for aggressive kids, where I was onsite for 3 full days and then 2 days off. When I had days off, … Continue reading →
Showcase-Jim Lavender
How long have you been a storyteller? There are two answers to this question. First, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t telling stories. I began telling to myself and then to close family members. My first real job at age 18 was on stage with Al Capp Enterprises. Then storytelling in the entertainment world. Next came 40 years as pastor of 4 churches, the last of which was a 33-year position. Every week my messages were built around … Continue reading →
Showcase-Darlene Green
How long have you been a storyteller? Because I have always loved working with children, it was a natural evolvement for me to become an early childhood educator. When I began teaching over 18 years ago, I discovered that my students really enjoyed listening to me tell stories. I learned that great storytelling is an essential tool and skill in teaching twenty-first-century learners to prepare them for the future. After witnessing the numerous positive benefits that storytelling had on my … Continue reading →
Showcase-Les Shaffer
How long have you been a storyteller? Probably most of my life. I was always telling stories to myself and, as my parents defined it “lies” to others. In elementary school, I would rather make up a book rather than read someone elses’ for a book report. In 1984, I heard my first professional tellers in Seattle at the Northwest Folklife Festival and thought it was possible that I could do that. The next year I took a week-long class, … Continue reading →