Tell Me Something Good
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“Just Right” by Annie Gustafson
The way my dad tells it, the story goes like this: Mr. Brewer worked as a lawyer in Kansas City, and he was good at his job. From one especially grateful client, Mr. Brewer received a bottle of moonshine. Able to identify trouble when he saw it, perhaps because of his profession, he…
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Bringing Forth Broader Truths by Maya Jones
Historical storytelling is an important way to bring forth broader “truths.” Only a few years ago did I begin to learn a different U.S. history than I had been taught as a child. I started hearing horrendous stories about black life after the abolition of slavery, the genocide of Native Americans, and the cruel…
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Don’t Call Me Amadeus! by LynnAnn Wojciechowicz
In researching Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for a biographical story, I learned much about his relationship with his father, his struggle to marry the woman he loved, and his experiences in the music world, but what I decided to base my story on was his name. I learned that he was christened “Johannus Chrisostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus…
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Shooting the Bull with Grover Leon Smith by Sharon Gilbert
I was fortunate to have one parent who loved to tell a good family story. My father, Grover Leon Smith, would take any opportunity to “shoot the bull” with anyone willing to listen. My brother and I never tired of hearing tales where he used his “common sense,” that thing that a person must have…
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The Legend of La Llorona by Joe Ray
Legends, myths, and fairy tales define who we are; they're culturally based. We define ourselves by our legends, or someone else will define us in their manner. Our legends have various meanings and intentions, much like George Washington and his cherry tree or Davy and the bear slaying at the age of three (good one!).…
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What is a Legend? by Paulette Friday
Is a legend really a biographical story embroidered with exaggeration? Or, is it a tall tale fertilized with regional braggadocious embellishment? Perhaps it is a myth in legend’s clothing? In my humble opinion, the lines between these genres is not cut with a straight edge razor. It’s rather more like an artistic tear. …
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The Legend of Columcille and Nessie by Harriet Cole
Columcille, the saint known as the “Dove of the Church,” went travelling through Scotland, living out his vow to bring as many wild blue Picts to Christ as there were souls who had lost their lives in his battle against the High King of Ireland. One day, as he led his faithful band of…
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Two Favorite Tricksters by RoseAnne Belk
I knew the concept of the trickster was widespread in many cultures, but I was excited to learn how important the concept of the trickster has been in American culture, up to and including the 21st…
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Tricksters: Hopping Jays and Treasured Elders by Ty Nolan
One of the last times I heard my relative Sobiyax (Bruce Miller) tell a story was at a conference in Las Vegas. He was in a wheelchair and looked frail. I still thought of him as being so large and strong. He had once punched out a horse. He broke his hand. When our…
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Some Challenges in Using Native American Stories by Ty Nolan
Native American stories are considered to be a type of “Medicine,” which is often the closest English can come to a combination of Power, the Sacred, and Community. Unfortunately, they have often suffered from censorship and simplification when they were recorded by non-Native ethnographers and historians. Two of the finest works I know that explore…
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Favorite Tellers and Teachers of Participation Stories
Jim May introduced the Storytelling Institute at SMCC to participation stories. There we were, a bunch of college teachers, with little or no experience teaching or working with children. Jim was the featured teller at our first Spring Storytelling Festival in 1996. He told in our classes, outside under a little tent, and gave…
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Got Participation Stories? Yes, but I need more!
I could really use some new participation stories. If you have a good one, would you share it with me and the rest of the Tell Me Something Good gang? Are you coming to the East Valley Tellers of Tales meeting on April 11th? Would you bring your favorite participation story and teach…