National Storytelling Conference - Doc McConnell

The conference, which was in Gatlinburg was an interesting opportunity to be among peers and also to see and hear the greats of storytelling. One of those great voices passed away just after the festival, but he lives on in our hearts and on his videos - that of Doc McConnell, the Medicine Man.

I was privileged to attend Doc's workshop on the business of storytelling and it was worth the flat tire I got and everything else just to be with that wonderful human being. Of course, I had heard him at festivals but to sit in the room with a small group and learn from the master was an honor I'll not forget. My mother's maiden name was Connell, derived from O'Connell and I always felt it gave me a connection to Doc.

Listening to Elizabeth Ellis' 'Connections' was another special reason to be at the conference. I could have probably taken that session away and learned a years' worth of knowledge in that short space of time. Her voice became dear to me since my time at ETSU and I have learned to trust her implicitly. The week before the conference, she granted me an interview for my book, Riding the Clouds, and it was all about storytelling and family, but very little of it was repeated in her talk. She is a rich repository of American Storytelling with much more to come in the future.

Speaking of the book, Riding the Clouds, in addition to Elizabeth Ellis, I have now interviewed Dot Jackson, the author of Refuge; ballad singer Betty Smith, and oral tradition storyteller Charlotte Ross. As I interview these special people, I hear of still more and I believe this could become a life work. The notion of what it means to be 'home' in the Appalachian Mountains; how these tellers came to story and how the land continues to influence them today is as intriguing as their answers. . .