Mark Wilson's home

Mark enjoyed Jackson, California, up in the mountains where he lived.  It's what made him my "WP" or Western Pal.  The package he sent had his wonderful sun-dried tomatoes, coffee, and so much more packed with the love he freely dispensed to his storytelling friends.  Enjoy the view!

Ye olde clothesline (LSK: Yes, that's Mark's description and the first view of his place other than the one  of him standing next to his beloved and fabulous tomato plants which opened this series)

Pond I put in last year (LSK: That would be 2005)

Another shot of the pond with 'orchard site of the future' beyond it

Box o' maters

More termaters

Start of drying process

Tomato plants

View off the back porch

Flowers and cactus

Close up

Another back porch photo

My truck

A store in town (one I like)

Me at the gallery tour in Bellingham

Your storytelling family will miss you, Mark!

National Storytelling Network parades

I know some of these photos are from the Providence, Rhode Island conference.  Because Mark also sent photos from the Denver, Colorado and Bellingham, Washington conferences, some of these may also be from there.  As before, any further information is appreciated.

The final photos by Mark will be the next post.  It will show his home and what he loved in that area.

Storytellers as Viewed by Mark

Mark sent me 45 photos.  Many were of his storytelling friends and acquaintances.  Look out!  If you were ever at a National Storytelling Conference with Mark, you may be here!

These "family photos" are posted in no particular order except as they came in the envelope to me.  The identification also was made by Mark.  There are a few mysteries here, so feel free to tell me if you know of identifications missing or incorrect.  (Spacing is due to the quirks of Blogger working with the different size pictures.)

Jack McGuire and Mike Myers

Margie MacDonald and Jeff Gere

Marnie Gillard
UPDATE: Mary Hamilton has confirmed she's the other person in this photo.

Kevin Cordi and ?

Pleasant DeSpain

Leeny Del Seamonds

Granny Sue and Doug Elliott

Margie MacDonald

L to R Granny Sue, Angela Clark, Vickie Dworkin (and Bufo the day she got him?), ??, Batsy, and Jane Crouse

Linda King Pruitt, Priscilla Howe, Angela Klingler

Denver Storytell Swap

Denver Storytell Swap

Dr. DeLight

Andre Roche (LSK: ? Antonio Roche with wig?)

Liz Weir

Karen Chace and Dianne de Las Casas in Denver

Tim Sheppard at Denver Swap

Tim Sheppard, Mary Grace Ketner, and I'll remember her name in a minute

UPDATE: Tim Sheppard's confirmed the third person is "the lovely Sheila Darr."                                           

Mark and "I don't remember her name (just loved the colors in her clothes)"

Eth-Noh-Tec

Eth-Noh-Tec

O.k., I lied.  Saved two of my favorite Michigan storytellers for last.

Judy Sima

Yvonne Healy

The next posts will be from the Providence and possibly Denver National Storytelling Conference general parade.

Mark Wilson and other storytellers we miss

My "WP" for Western Pal, storyteller Mark Wilson died recently.  At the 2012 National Storytelling Conference, I brought to the Storytell swap photos Mark sent me and offered everybody their choice of one.  I've decided to broaden that offering by posting them online to let others see more about Mark and many storytellers he photographed, starting with others no longer with us.

On Michigan Storytelling.org there's a special page called In Memoriam that  attempts to recognize Michigan storytellers deserving our remembering.  It can only be complete if we remember those who helped build storytelling.  Just as the African story of “The Cowtail Switch” (found in the book of the same name by Harold Courlander) ends, “For it is a saying among them that a man is not really dead until he is forgotten.”  Let the stories of our storytelling family never be forgotten.

First of all here's Mark.  His note on the back says "Me and my tomato plants (top of my hat is about 6 1/2')"

Mark sent me many photos to help me get to know members of STORYTELL and other storytellers before I ever had a chance to attend any conferences.  We kept hoping we'd get to the same conference at the same time, but he was very much a WP and didn't make any of the same ones I've been able to attend.  Because the 2012 conference especially remembers Those Who Have Gone Before, here are some of his photos for storytellers whose voices have been stilled in this world.

Brother Blue

Chuck Larkin

Rose Owens "The Story Lady"

The next photo is of a storyteller who, as far as I know, is alive, but seems to have gone silent.  He is missed by those of us he mentored.  Wherever he is, the Storytell community has wished he would get in touch with us.

Papa Joe, "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?"

This was the first of four posts of Mark's photos.  The next post will be of current storytelling members from those past conferences Mark attended.  After that will be a post from the Providence and possibly Denver and Bellingham conference festivities -- NSN clearly had a lot of fun!  The final post will be of Mark's home area.

UPDATE:
There has been a wonderful development from this series.  Please see the latest article for this month titled "Rose Is Alive!"

NSN 2012 Conference

That's the motto of the National Storytellers Network.  The national conference is a great way the organization meets that goal. The conference's end is closest and freshest in my mind so I'll start there.  Agreed to host TimeSlips with Liz Nichols.  Why?  Meant I couldn't leave early as it was the last workshop.  Ah, but I was meant to become excited about this way of working with dementia patients.  Have a place where I've been and can't wait!  They'll be a great place to try it and learn.  To learn a bit more, go to the Healing Story Alliance's article on the process.  They are a Special Interest Group of NSN.

• Yes, Bill Harley's Sun. speech was a fine way to get us moving on after the conference -- Loren Niemi's poetic response gives you a taste of it, too.  (There are plans to post parts of the conference and probably the daily keynote addresses will be posted.  Bill Harley's conclusion was a great send-off.)

 
Bill Harley Calls for Revolution (by Loren Niemi)

We went astray he said, missed

the boat, lost the thread, got caught up

in one particular model that embraced

the tent and platform rather than

diversity and intimacy in all its messy forms.

It is time to recognize the Mecca

is just a small Tennessee town,

that hitched it's star to our labors

but not to our art. Our art was

and remains a means to an end.

The time has come of admit

that we have been lied to, that

social media will not bring us more

but empties us as we spend time, even

the time it takes to write or read this.

In the back of the room I raise

my metaphorical clenched fist

for this is the call to revolution,

to turn our hearts to what must be

painfully and joyfully done.

Right on, brother. Let us embrace

story as an intimate act of creation

shared in an uncertain time, as gift,

as calling, as prophecy, as witness,

as life changing as our real work.  

• Full conference group sessions concluded with "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" It still plays in my mind right along with remembering the wall where we posted our historical events.  Renee Englot said Storytellers of Canada always open with their history.  Added Chuck Larkin's death to the wall.  (Same weekend as Ray Hicks.) More history additions are wanted.  I'll add from the viewpoint of people here in Michigan, sending it to on to NSN.  The organization is gathering that history of festivals, people, and other events.

• Had great response to my tale at Yvonne Healy's Ghost Story Swap.  Next day a person found me and still had shivers!  Our Storytell list swap was fun with our part of the storytelling family (the whole conference is a family reunion, even if you meet for the first time).  Some at that swap took one of the Mark Wilson photos I brought to share, but I'm going to follow this post by tomorrow starting a 4-part series making all those photos available online.  Similar was the fun of the Fairy Tale Lobby and lunch after.  My emceeing a regional showcase also received good comments, but my own fun was getting to know each teller and their tales.  As soon as Omope (Carter Daboiku) settles into her new Dayton home, we plan to work together on the 2 sides of the Underground Railroad.  (It felt like meeting someone with whom I'm already connected!)

• Missed Karen Chace's part of Selling Stories, Not Snake Oil. (Thanks for those handouts, Karen. People should check your website and you posted them on your July 9 blog) Linda Gorham was as good as I was led to expect (she comes later this month to the Michigan Storytellers Festival along with Bil Lepp), but Elizabeth Ellis's words will stay with me about all of us being a team unto ourselves (artist, craftsperson, business manager, and maybe more).  Her "I'll have to ask my business manager" gives time to consider a gig that may be unwise.  I already try to have business meetings with myself, but this was empowering.

• Michigan storytelling friend, Karen Czarnik's story was fun and justifiably won the Story Slam, but my conference roommate Renee Englot's 3d place finish was sooooo close and similar.  O.k. Renee wasn't naked in the Great Lakes, but now I'll never consider staying at that Canadian Ice Hotel.  In story, been there, done that . . . vicariously.  BRRRRRR!

• Ruth Canonico not only gave an excellent Scottish Traveler bibliography, but brought Duncan Williamson and the tradition closer than just in print.  Norah Dooley's p.r. for the Massmouth Story Slam is "mammouth" and worth passing on to storytelling guilds. 

• Heard one conference attendee suggest putting all handouts online.  Great idea, despite Selling Stories, Not Snake Oil showing ethics fail to guide some members of our community.  Yet the ideas should go at least to conference attendees.  I know there are some plans to have parts of the conference appear online at the NSN website.

• In my pre-conference post I mentioned the folktale-based production, "From the Circle" by Filament Theatre after the YES! pre-conference.  It reminded me of the early days of Eth-Noh-Tec when the Storytell email list debated if they were storytelling.  Enjoyed time with all the Storytell family and the rest of the storytelling family there, but especially time with Csenge, Terrie a.k.a. Red Phoenix, Renee, and teacher and new member, Kevin.  When people worry storytelling is graying and where are the young up and coming storytellers, just look in their direction for reassurance.

Truly this was...

LoiS(ummarizing and already thinking of more, but this was the essence for me...now to write thank yous and tomorrow start posting those great photos from Mark Wilson ... to remember)

A Conference to Remember!

Fellow storytellers said they found my account of the 2012 National Storytelling Conference like being there with me.  Starting with the Pre-conference, looking at Cincinnati and the Kentucky elements, this may encourage you to find out more about some of the sessions and other experiences.  It may even encourage you to plan towards the August! 2013 conference in Richmond, VA.

Signed up for the National Storytelling Network conference waaay in advance, as the earliest of Early Bird registration saved money, also a year ago I promised YES! chair, Lyn Ford, I'd help with the Youth, Educators, Storytellers (YES!) Alliance pre-conference.  In the past, since the NSN conference always moves to various locations, I'd stayed offsite (a) at a relative's home; (b) with my husband in a tourist cabin near a commuting route; (c) at a "sleep cheap" with a roommate.  As a result of "c" I waited, expecting to find a MI or other roommate, but as the conference approached I began to panic.  MI residents either couldn't attend or weren't coming for my entire time.  (The pre-conference meant arriving Tuesday to help with set-up, NOT a popular option, but still within the range of any others attending the two pre-conferences which began early Wednesday.)  Cincinnati's nicknamed the Queen City and it began to look like it might require a queen's ransom.   This time the bulletin board for roommate and travel didn't help me because I wanted to stay in one place throughout.  The incredibly helpful Kit and Karin at the NSN office -- multiply me times similar members to show how spectacular these 2 are -- suggested hotels on the trolley line since the conference hotel was booked.  They also suggested parking garages, local members to answer questions, and taxi possibilities for when the trolley stopped at 10 or started late on the weekend. 

Couldn't micro-manage it from a distance.  Was incredibly lucky to find a roommate in Renee Englot from Canada.  She thought surely I'd found a roommate when she requested 1 on Storytell, the international email list for storytellers.  We took a chance on a downtown Cincy 3 star hotel w/o knowing what it was.  Reviews, factoring out snobs and the hard to please, still were worrisome -- that + trolley/parking difficulties.  Through it all Renee was a great mate in the week's constant activity.  (The hotel, the Milennium, also turned out fine.)

Not to worry.  It was easy circling downtown Cincy and KY areas to find the best parking choices.  The trolley  was fun, even when I accidentally caught the Newport trolley.  Got a story loving driver who gave a tour through Newport.  Passed Thompson House -- owned by the inventor of the Tommie Gun.  Go to Thompson House history to learn way more than just the marker mentions.  It has history in the War of 1812 -- see my 2 April posts about the War of 1812 and the River Raisin Massacre for a bit more on Kentucky in that war, was part of the Underground Railroad, and is said to be haunted.  Perfect material for storytellers.

Even my briefest of visiting revealed downtown Cincinnati was fun to walk, with the Cincinnati Library (had to visit it, of course!), interesting decorated pigs all over, the Underground Railroad Freedom Center,  the river -- I'm a born and bred St. Louisan so it felt like home, and lively nightly music in Fountain Square where I could pick up and return on the trolley.

Tuesday night we learned YES!'s 2d of our 2 afternoon pre-conference speakers flight was canceled.  We managed with our a.m. keynote from Susan O'Halloran and our other afternoon speaker, Karen Chace.  I was to introduce Karen and was confident, correctly so, as she talked about the many ways she handles youth storytelling clubs.  I've known her and her work from Storytell for a long time.  Fabulous job...of course.  Karen's website and blog has a great many of her ideas and handouts on storytelling clubs and much more. The evening ended with a lively performance by Filament Theatre inspired by folktales.

From the Circle: Remembering the Earth Through Folktales

Thursday I walked to the library for a few questions and then spent the rest of the day at the Underground Railroad Freedom Center.  There's also a surprising amount of Native American information there and their research library gave leads on an UGRR conductor important to the woman, Liberetta Lerich Green, whom I portray.  (See past posts.) She grew up on a local UGRR station.  I'll check the Troy, MI location where Peter Jackson apparently lived in the 1850s, then more on his later family life in Canada's Essex County.

I read somebody's (?) post about storytelling friend, the late Mark Wilson, and continue to learn from him...I plan to set aside money all year long to decide if I can afford future conferences.  My Scottish ancestors might have fits at how I committed myself, then began to panic, but the conference was needed and useful.  Such conferences

1. reconnect me with friends and colleagues; 
2. provide new ideas and stories; 
3. refresh my commitment to a career that often can feel as if I'm all alone.  My next post will hit the high points about the actual conference's value.  Not the same as attending, but still hope it may provide leads to you on those 3 conference benefits.

LoiS(orting through a PACKED week)