Gene Gryniewicz captivated us all once again. For those of you deprived
folks who have not heard him, how shall I describe his style. Let's see.
Well, you've probably heard those gentle tellers who mesmerize you with the
quiet cadence of their narrative, slowly drawing you into the story? That's
not Gene. Oh, no! He grabs you by the neck, on about the third word, and
jerks you into the very heart of the story. Suddenly, you find a sausage
stuck to your nose, if that is his will. After hearing two or three stories
from Gene, I am exhausted. But it's a good exhaustion, the kind that comes
from hard work, leaving one with a sense of great accomplishment, having
journeyed through the tales with a masterful guide. 

Sharon Kirk Clifton, Purveyor of Magic Beans and Seeds of Truth
http://groups.msn.com/SharonKirkCliftonStoryteller

First quarter, 2003 --

When last we spoke, it was third quarter, 2000 --

& 
there's been a bit
of water spilled beneath the bridge
since then:  I am, now, the Illinois state representative
for both Northlands and the National Storytelling Network(s)  . ... what does that mean?  Responsibility, mostly; I'm middleman between 'them' and 'us' ... whoever they
are
... whoever
we are ... .  No matter; to this end I track Storytelling Events in Illinois.  I email these events each month or so to anyone interested in Illinois Storytelling ... .   EMAIL ME

And I keep a list of Storytelling Guilds -- meeting times and locations, and contact people.  and I answer questions and direct aspiring tellers to their nearest guild ... .  I try to make and to help maintain connections ... .                                EMAIL ME

There is there a website I've set up to help in this purpose:

I also set up a page ... or six ... of Links for Storytellers of which I'm particularly proud -- there are here as many colors of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books as I could find, and collections of Native American lore ... and Celtic mythologies ... and Greek, Roman and Egyptian and links about Storytelling ... in general.  There are links to sites detailing Urban Legends ... Biblical Storytelling ... even Zen stories ... .  These all key off the same heartlander site.

I've set up a new guild, after a fashion.  Back to the Garden.  Its focus is learning, better, the art of telling Bible Stories.  It's not as easy as it sounds ... .  The Garden was born of a workshop Heartland Story League sponsored back in March --

John Walsh -- Making Bible Stories Unforgettable

Several people suggested that would like to continue nurturing the interest John had stirred ... to which purpose we meet the first Tuesday of each month at 7pm ... at ...

We're a small group ... with a large interest.