About Me

It all started on THE SECOND LANDING

To the immediate right of our front door were three quick steps to the first landing. A right turn took you up the next eight steps and delivered you to my stage, THE SECOND LANDING. A curtained window to the left, looking on to the neighbor's roof was my backdrop. Another right  turn and you had your choice of the five tiered theater seating, room enough for five siblings . Mom and Dad, popcorn and programs for those that got there early. The landing was not much more than 3'x 3' but big enough for my performances of poems, monologues and stories.

So my performance career began, on the second landing, in front of the curtain, not behind, to an attentive, loving, sometimes squirming audience.

One of my first performance pieces was A Little Boys Pocket, a story in prose about the woes of having a pocket with holes. Later, tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen were a regular fare along with original works. I still have the books of poems, fairy tales, and folk tales that I learned and performed from.

Now my stories number in the hundreds and my audiences have grown to include many, many wonderful families. The Stage? It may be a classroom, a camp site or community center, hospital or church, home or a theater. Stories fit  anywhere,  on any landing you happen to be on now.

I earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Children's Creative Play from Dominican College, Racine WI. (How fun is that?)

I believe in play. Play is free. Play is creative. Play is complete unto itself. Play is the question and the answer.  There is no right or wrong way to play. Through play we learn our place in the world. We try on roles and feelings without fear of failure. So it is with storytelling. Free, creative, the question and the answer, just tell.

Try it on. How does it feel? Where do I fit?

Everyone has a story.

These are some of the places you may have seen me telling stories.

        Amelia Island Book Fair, Amelia Island

        Boca Prep International, Boca Raton

        Children's Museum of Boynton Beach, Boynton Beach

        Daggerwing Nature Center, Boca Raton

        Florida Storytelling Camp, Eustis

        Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, Kissimmee

        Get Ready, Set, Grow Academy, Boca Raton

        Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Boca Raton       

        Highland Beach Library, Highland Beach

        Milagro Center, Delray Beach

        Millpond Community Hoedown and Halloween, Boca Raton

        National Storytelling Network Conference 2008, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

        Old School Square Cornell Museum, Delray Beach

        South Miami Lutheran Church, Miami

        Sugar Sand Community Center, Boca Raton

        West Boynton Park and Recreation Center, Boynton Beach

        Yesteryear Village, West Palm Beach

     

I am past-president of:

        Boca Raton Toastmasters

        Palm Beach County Storytelling Guild

An active member of:

        Florida Storytelling Association

        National Storytelling Network

        Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators