Comments:
Attended college at Centenary College in Shreveport, and worked at a publishing company in Shreveport for year after graduating. Then came to Pittsburgh to go to graduate school at University of Pittsburgh (in sociology). Eventually got my PhD in 1994, by that time I had come to love Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania. I had also gotten into storytelling -first as a camp counselor during college, telling stories in the cabin after lights out and around the bonfires - and then on camping trips with friends, and eventually as a part-time business while finishing up grad school. When I finished up school, I decided to concentrate on building up my storytelling business here, rather than looking for academic work elsewhere.
I taught sociology at a number of local colleges on a part-time basis, eventually ending up back at my old department at Pitt. After a couple of years teaching part-time, I got bumped up to full-time status. That position ended this spring as budget cuts took a toll across the university.
My main occupation however, is the storytelling, which is once again my full time job. I perform at schools, libraries, festivals, historical sites and museums, churchs, and others. I am a performer for the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and a Speaker with the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. My programs range from folktales and legends to Irish and Celtic, ghost stories, history (primarily Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh (I also lead storytelling walking tours of Pittsburgh)), hero stories (King Arthur, Robin Hood...), Biblical stories, and some adaptations of literature like Shakespearean plays. My audiences range from pre-school, to elementary, high school, college, family programs, adults. I also record stories; I have 8 CDs at this point, including three that have won various national awards (my latest, a collection of Dragon Stories just got 2 awards! I'm still excited about that.) Anyway, my website is all about the storytelling, so more details there.
I've worked with kids in one way or another pretty much all that time, first as a camp counselor, then with the youth group at my church. Currently, I run a youth spoken word troupe at the church.
My wife Laura is an occupational therapist. She grew up in the mountains just east of Pittsburgh, where her family still is. We met at our church, where we got married in 1996.
Our daughter Elizabeth was born in 1998. She loves knights and dragons, is an avid reader, particularly of fantasy novels and comic books. she comes with me to many of my storytelling gigs, is a memeber of my yout troupe, and has told at several festivals and conferences. Her current love is fencing. We started taking fencing classes together in September, she loves it, and I'm finding it coming back easier than I thought it would.
Really wish I could make the reunion, but work calls (there is a major Irish Festival that I perform at that same weekend.)
