Doug Bland has been pastor at Community Christian Church for sixteen years. He teaches storytelling classes at South Mountain Community College, the only two year college in the country that offers a certificate in storytelling. He teaches “The Art of Storytelling”, “Sacred Stories” and “Using Storytelling in Businesses and Organizations.” Community Christian Church has become known as “the storytelling church.” Several times a year they offer storytelling concerts, using the ancient art of storytelling “as a way to explore the human soul.” Storytelling concerts have included “Desert Solitaire: Life and Death in a Harsh and Beautiful Land,” “Addiction and Recovery,” “The Divine Feminine,” “Animal Blessings,””The Sojourner in Your Midst,” and many others. Producing the annual storytelling concerts “The Feast of Life” and “Winter’s Light” earned him the 2003 Diversity Award from the Tempe Human Relations Commission. Doug has chaired the Earth Care Commission for the Arizona Ecumenical Council and is Chair of the Arizona Interfaith Power and Light---a religious response to global warming.
ODYSSEY STORYTELLING PHOTOS and BIOS
DECEMBER 2, 2010 - "Belly Laughs: Humor for the Holidays"
Anne Lee is a teacher storyteller. Currently she teaches belly button huggers (3rd graders) in T.U.S.D.
She is also the goddess of Tellers of Tales (TOT) a storytelling group in Tucson. TOT meets the first Saturday of each month at Himmel Library. 9:00 a.m. is the time to chat with tellers and at 9:30 we begin a program. The website for TOT is: storytellingarizona.com.
Glenda Bonin was born in Wyoming, raised in Oregon and now calls Arizona home. Over her lifetime, Glenda has reinvented herself several times, always managing to find a way to be in front of an audience. This didn’t make sense to her when she was young, since she was painfully shy, but her story tonight might help explain just when that need to perform might have been planted. Glenda now makes her living as a storyteller sometimes including puppetry and a bit of magic in her shows. She is listed as a Roster Artist with the Arizona Commission on the Arts. She also enjoys roster status with other state agencies around the country
Aimee Finkelstein...What can you say about a woman who goes camping with her Louis Vuitton? And her makeup...What, she shouldn't look nice for her fellow campers? Aimee is from New York but you will never hear an accent. Years of elocution lessons have eradicated all signs. She is a middle school English teacher, has three dogs, a parrot, a horse, two kids and a wonderful partner, Chris, who never knew about Louis Vuitton before he met her. She is a writer and currently finishing up her book, "The Goy and the Jew."
Bridgitte Thum is a local. She grew up in the old pueblo, hanging around hot sets at Old Tucson, picking and flicking flakey dirt mud chips left by heavy monsoons and pondering the profundity of multicolored sunsets from her rooftop. "What does it mean???" Bridgitte is a serious person who likes to tell jokes. She can be seen Thursday nights at Laff's, performing stand up comedy with thirty or so of her closest imaginary friends. Bridgitte Thum is also a painter of pictures, some of them are a little dark and stormy. It's been suggested that she's got skills and moxie to beat the band. Her artwork is going to be shown at Circa 79. With an opening reception on Dec 11th. Bridgitte would love it if you came to see her creepy paintings. Bridgitte Thum also writes her own bios and feels strange referring to herself as Bridgitte Thum. Bridgitte Thum is starting to feel like a triple rainbow! Bridgitte Thum doesn't do Christmas, or any kind of greeting cards, this is pretty much it, so, "Happy Holly Days!
Richy D. Feinberg: I was born and raised on the lower Eastside of Manhattan. My wife Joyce came from the upper Westside…we met in midtown 54 years ago. I have 3 daughters, and three granddaughters. My lucky number is 7 and that's how many loving females are in my life. In 1993 at age 58 I had a heart attack. Five days later I had quadruple bypass surgery and two months later I had another heart attack. I was depressed, in pain, had anxiety attacks, fearful of the future and was unable to return to my job as an art director. On the advice of my daughters who lived in Tucson, we moved from Syosset L.I. to Tucson nine months after my surgery. In Tucson, I was blessed to discover the 12-week "Heart Disease Reversal Program." The program restored my life to a new direction for living and enjoying life. It opened the door for new adventures. I had a one-man watercolor show at DeGrazia Gallery, became a certified practitioner for Bio Touch Healing and for 12 years, volunteered in many positions for the Town of Oro Valley. Presently, I'm the Public Relations Director for the Foundation for Cardiovascular Health/ Heart Series.
Alberto Ramirez was born in East Los Angeles. He has been writing short fiction and poetry ssince 1987. He studied English Literature at UCLA. In 1997 he moved to Tucson. He works for a local Head Start agency and is currently seeking a publisher for his first novel.
Bridgitte trying to escape
Adam C. Hostetter has been a producer with Odyssey since 2008, when his therapist handed him Penelope Starr's business card. Better than therapy, Odyssey has introduced him to the bright lights of the stage, many fascinating folks with incredible stories, and the joy of storytelling. Adam has been an adult literacy educator for nearly 20 years. He is also a writer, mining his own queer-and-Mennonite background. He has served on the board of directors for Brethren and Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests http://www.bmclgbt.org/, as well as The Rogue Theatre http://www.theroguetheatre.org/ and StoryArts Group Inc. http://www.storyartsgroup.org/. He grew up in Lancaster County, PA and currently resides in the desert outside of Tucson, AZ.
Curated By Adam C. Hostetter