Storytelling workshop with Jim May - August 28, 2008

Friends,



Tonight I had the opportunity to participate in a workshop with Jim May in Jonesborough. That's one of the benefits to living in this part of East Tennessee - wonderful storytellers come through here all the time, and sometimes we are blessed with opportunities like the one I just had tonight.



There were about twenty of us, storytellers all, and we were a wonderfully diverse group with life experiences all over the map. Jim showed us that our life transitions are the rich places from which to draw personal stories, and then we were encouraged to think about our cultural place maps.



I thought about my place map, and realized that I still, after all this time, am fighting the path my family has always followed - good, stable, regular work - our family motto is 'I fight poverty, I work,' and a sure knowledge of our place in life. I have flown in the face of that as a non-traditional storytelling writer, yet I continue to work an everyday life to hold body and soul together. It just goes to show how strong our family traditions can be.



Have you ever thought about your family of origin and the influence your traditions have on the decisions you make everyday? Think about it - it may surprise you; it did me.

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. . .

Gatlinburg preview

Yesterday, my good friend and neighbor, fellow storyteller Marjorie Shaefer and I drove down to Pigeon Forge, and then on to Gatlinburg, to check things out before the national storytelling conference. We will be staying at a friend's campground in Pigeon Forge and as we approached, I wondered at the wisdom of it. Lanes of traffic six deep were jammed with cars and trucks - folks enjoying the last days of summer- and all of them anxious to get off the road. When we finally cleared the frenetic angst of PF, we drove into the Smokies and that's when the peace began to settle in. We both felt it as we drove around those verdant curves and when we finally reached Gatlinburg and had to slow down again, it was ok.

Storytelling is going great, but the search for a day job continues - Johnson City maybe a thriving economic center, but real jobs, ones that pay more than minimum wage are hard to find. I'm thinking of querying the newspaper to interview others in the area and write about the experience, although I think I probably have enough to write about with Riding the Clouds.

Post it again, Saundra!

I just learned a big lesson in the world of blog posting: write it and save it because if you don't, it goes away.

It has been a trying time for the past several weeks. I'm still in negotiation with a publisher for my book Riding the Clouds, the life stories of our beloved Appalachian Storytellers, still working half-time with the Johnson City Parks and Recreation and plugging in the holes telling stories every chance I get.

My visit with the WaysMeet folks in Berea, Kentucky was all I wanted it to be. For me, with the awakening of interest in all things Appalachian, the trip to Berea was a pilgrimage, but it is one I wish had been of longer duration. The drive was incredibly beautiful, taking me through parts of mountain country I had not seen before. The group I met with was composed mostly of students, which suited me just fine even though I was expecting older folks. The talk changed in response to what I felt coming from them, and I loved the thoughtful expressions I saw on their faces. My hope is they will be willing to 'ride the clouds' themselves, lifting off the ground to taste adventure and live their dreams.

My new postcard brochures and business cards came in and I'm having a blast sending them out. If you read this post and can think of some places a teller of my sort would be appreciated, make a comment - it would be appreciated. I bartered for a brief video clip of my stories and I'm going to put that on YouTube next. After that, the web site . . .

A Belated Report

OK, folks, I promise to get better at this blog thing and regret not writing as often as I should. Now that I finally have my postcards printed and new business cards to distribute, I hope to hear from more writers with ideas and commentary.

My visit to Berea, Kentucky was all that I hoped it would be. I was there to address the WaysMeet group at the invitation of playwright, Trish Ayers. The group composition came as a surprise to me: they were mostly students with a sprinkling of more mature faces; I was expecting just the opposite, but I had big competition that night - storyteller and writer, Jim Ed Wheeler, was in town, too! They were, however, interested in what I had to say and the presentation took a different turn in response to the needs that I sensed coming from them. That night I stayed at the lovely home of writer Mary Owens and left early to drive down to Hot Springs, North Carolina to see and hear ballad singer Betty Smith at the annual Hot Springs Music Festival.

It's June and time for the Berea experience!

Greetings all!

Summer is hotter than hot and I've been busy. I joined the Jonesborough Storytelling Guild and have already performed with them a couple of times at the Cranberry Thistle. They are a great group and so very good at doing what we all love best - storytelling.

The gigs down in North Florida were great fun - I enjoyed telling eco-tales under the tent at the Green Energy Expo in Crawfordville, and also loved seeing old friends again. The day before, I told literally all day at Woodville Elementary, my dad's old school. One of the most exciting things that happened came just after lunch. I brought my cartoon storybook to review what I wanted to tell next and the art teacher saw it. She asked that I tell Third Grade Drama Queen, which is about the discovery of my learning differences and challenges (believe me, they are challenging. . .) When I told it, I also shared the cartoons and found it very rewarding. One youngster in the back of the room popped up with his hand held high and said - I have that too!

Speaking of Third Grade Drama Queen - I told that story for the Annual Tennessee Dyslexia Conference in Knoxville in April. Again, I had my book of cartoons with me and the keynote speaker saw me reviewing it and asked to look at it. We had a great discussion about the use of hand-drawn pictures as a learning aid for dylexics, and I sent them photo-copies at The Grange School in New Jersey for some of their students. That day was wonderful in many ways: it was great to be among intelligent, educated folks who understood the condition and many of whom share it with me.

More next week about Berea!

over the mountains and through the woods . . .

This past Saturday, I went to Marshall, North Carolina to visit with ballad singer, Betty Smith. When I arrived, I called and she drove down from the mountain top to pick me up. When we got back to her log cabin, which is nestled into a knob and totally surrounded by trees, we were greeted by birdsong. I thought it boded well for our time together, which although she didn't sing, was filled with musical memories.

Sunday, I drove over to Boone, North Carolina and met with Charlotte Ross. She is a true oral storyteller who works totally from the experience of her memory. Listening to her talk about her childhood in Georgia was a treat beyond description.