|
|
One
of the questions I am most often asked is, "How did you get
started as a storyteller?" The short answer is that I was
lucky enough to have a father who told me stories. Long before
we were old enough to read the original books for ourselves,
my brother and I knew all sorts of stories from hearing my
father tell them.
|
My
father didn't use different voices for each character, as
I often do; nor did he get up and act out the characters'
movements, as I sometimes do in live performances. Like any
good storyteller, however, he could bring a story to life
because he instinctively knew the most important secret: he
told us stories he loved. His love and understanding for the
characters and their stories came through clearly and turned
us on to those stories. I learned to read early in order to
be able to find out more about The Three Musketeers, Greek
Myths, history tales, and many others I heard him tell.
|
We'd
sit before the fire on dark winter nights, or on our screened
porch on warm summer evenings, listening to his voice in the
gathering darkness and watching fireflies making lazy circles
of light in the shadows a few feet away. The magic of those
evenings has never left me, has shaped me, has set me on a
path I continue to walk all these years later with the greatest
joy. Whether I'm telling stories to a handful of friends in
a living room, performing for thousands of people in a theatre,
or creating a recording in a studio, I want my listeners to
feel the enchantment I felt so long ago.
|
I
still tell many stories I learned from my father, and they
hold special meaning for me because of him. My own daughter
now carries the same sorts of memories of my telling stories
to her, and knows which ones come to her via her grandfather.
She and my wife, and all the friends with whom I have shared
stories and who have given me new stories to tell, still are
sharing in the magic my father set in motion all those years
ago. That's part of the wonder of telling stories you love.
|
Sincerely,
Jim Weiss
|
|
Greathall
Productions Inc.
Post
Office Box 5061 • Charlottesville, Virginia 22905-5061
800-477-6234 434-296-4490 FAX
|
|
JIM'S
CORNER: