I think that there are a lot of books and stories that would benefit from asking more of the reader (or listener). When the audience has to do some of the work, they become more engaged. Instead of moralizing at the audience, the speaker would benefit from presenting strong characters, vibrant places and interesting conflicts and then invite the listener along on the trip.

According to Amazon, Levy’s “unique Stories with Holes series continues to be proclaimed the most popular activity used in gifted, special education and regular classrooms by hundreds of educators. . . . . As a former school principal, company president, parent of four daughters and management trainer, Nathan’s ability to transfer knowledge and strategies to audiences through humorous, thought provoking stories assures that participants leave with a plethora of new ways to approach their future endeavors.”

Beginning with a health and wellness fair at Tucson Medical Center  on Saturday, January 7 at 7:15 a.m. and continuing throughout the day at various locations around town, you will have scores of events to chose from until the closing ceremony at Kino Stadium. The stadium opens at 4:00 pm. and will feature music, choirs, speakers, and special LED candles to “honor and commemorate the sharing of community and our loss.”

The emphasis is on health, fitness, family and community on this day. Events include hikes and strolls at the Davidson Canyon Gabe Zimmerman Memorial Trailhead, Sabino Canyon, and Colossal Cave; a silent guided yoga practice hosted by the girl Scouts, a 5-mile social run and much more.

The Odyssey Storytelling Story Cart will be on hand at the BEYOND Festival Main Event at Reid Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. collecting stories about memories from the day of the January 8th shooting and our process of healing and moving on as a community.

Activities and educational opportunities at Reid Park include the Outdoor Experience Activity Course, classes in Zumba & Tai-Chi, and Pima County’s Bicycle Obstacle Course. Ben’s Bells, Beads of Courage, the Story Cart from Odyssey Storytelling and  Stories that Soar will be there along with the Tucson High Jovert Steal Drum Band. There’s an impressive list of community partners, way too many to mention here.

Starr: How did you get the idea for MyAcceptance.org?

Starr: Why stories? What is your connection to storytelling?

Austin: I grew up with stories, I remember sitting around the dinner table at night and listening to my dad tell us stories about his life growing up.  I remember how much those stories used to make me laugh. Story telling really is an art; if you can tell a great story then you can bring other people into your life for a moment and make them feel however you want them to. I think because of that I love to tell stories and I love listening to other people tell stories.

I love talking to people and asking them about their lives because I find that more often than not they have some amazing stories to tell and have done some amazing things in their life.  I think that a lot of people today are so focused on their own lives that they don’t take the time to listen to others and have an understanding of someone else’s point of view. I figured that if I can get people to read and understand where the subjects are coming from than maybe they’ll think twice about how they treat others.

Starr: How do you see the connection / difference between your images and the written story?

Austin: I try my best to do justice to the subject’s story when I create the ideas for the images because everyone deserves a photo shoot that represents who they are and what they went through.  So for example, one of the subjects, Andrea James grew up always having to hide who she was. She talked about how she felt like an actor growing up, always changing who she was to fit the part she was supposed to play.  I wanted a way to show that feeling, so I came up with the idea of using masks to show her many different faces she used in her life.  I’m really proud of that shot because I think it works for a lot of people not just members of the LGBT community.  I think a lot of people try and hide behind “masks” because they are afraid to be who they really are or do what they really want.

My images only show two snap shots of the subjects life: that one key moment or feeling that they had growing up and then a shot that represents how they feel now.  When you read their story you have a better idea of who they are and what they’ve been through.

For more of Austin’s work check out www.ParkerAustin.com

The website says, “TimeSlips opens storytelling to everyone by replacing the pressure to remember with the freedom to imagine.” It seems to me that all sorts of storytellers, writers and educators would benefit from their methods and creative storytelling prompts.

You can try it out on their website. First you choose an image and prompt and then tell or write. Here are a few examples:

What should we name him? . . . Tell a Story

What's so funny? . . . Tell a Story

What's going on here? . . . Tell a Story

You can read some of the stories, from short phrases to elaborate and funny poems to disturbing interpretations, at the “browse stories” tab.

They offer training for individuals, classrooms and organizations and you can apply for certification as a TimeSlips Trainer. And they have great pictures on their website:

Her name might be Gloria Jean. She looks happy.

According to 440 International Those Were The Days, “Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born (prematurely) on this day in 1874. He became a British statesman, soldier, and author — and the first man to be made an honorary citizen of the United States (by an act of Congress on April 9, 1963).” It is Mark Twain’s birthday too.

You can watch a video or peruse the list of things that happened on this day at History.com. I found it unnerving that the categories are mostly about war. That was one of the problems that I had with history in high school. And why is the TV show Pawn Stars on the History Channel?

On This Day seems to have a broader scope with categories such as Today’s Famous Birthdays, Today in Music History, President Ronald Reagan History, and oh, yah, war.

You can go a bit upscale at On This Day at the New York Times.  For instance the entry for today, November 30, is “In 1995, President Clinton because the first U.S. chief executive to visit Northern Ireland.

Remarkably, Scopes Systems Worldwide Industrial Electronics Repair & Services  has one of the most comprehensive listings on their Anyday page, boasting more than 11 million hits. I was visitor number 14188881.

Historyorb.com seems pretty serious about Today in History. They say that their archives are “comprised of over 200,000 important events, famous and celebrity birthdays and famous deaths from the past six thousand years. The archive is fully searchable, both by date and by keyword” After searching around I now know that  Roman Catholics were banned from the English parliament in 1678.

Go surf the web, learn some history and come up with some interesting stories.

November is also National Lifewriting Month and the Nina Amir offers these tips on the National Association of Memoir Writers website if you’d like to attempt this art form

Write fast, let ‘er rip.

Feed your imagination with photos and research when you’re not writing.

Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation or details. Get the basics down.

No time for that inner critic either. Blow on by it!

Denis Ledoux has this to say about Lifewriting:

“When you write your stories down, you’re doing more than recording the who, what, where, and when. You are also affirming and celebrating your hopes and dreams by rediscovering the why and how of your life. Writing can lead to insight and self-understanding that bring peace and even healing.”

For those of you who would rather read then write, you can check out A Story Every Day, where you can find, “a new story posted every day. fiction, non-fiction, whatever.” The website states

“A Story Every Day” was born from my belief that everyone has a story to share. Stories that should be heard. Some people believe that they can’t write well enough to tell their story, their story isn’t important enough, or they are too shy to share in public. This space is meant for those stories.

Jones says the book “features some stories that are old favorites and some new work by some of my favorite writers and performers. Admittedly it’s a book that’s hard to explain — part non fiction anthology, part graphic memoir — but it’s easy to figure out once you open it.”  It’s akin to a graphic novel with words and pictures working in harmony to tell the story.

There are an impressive list of contributors and I, for one, can’t wait to get my hands on the book. You might too once you see the book-trailer video. You can find it at an independent bookstore near you.

And the Story Stage is just one of seven stages!  The Festival, whos mission is to “research document interpret and present the living traditional arts and expressions of everyday life of the folk and ethnic communities of the multi-national Arizona-Sonora region,” stretches from above Alameda Street down to the Tucson Convention Center. It’s huge. The theme is year is “Traditions of Health and Wellness” and you certainly will get your exercise walking from place to place because you won’t want to miss a thing.  Good thing it’s three days, from October 14 through the 16th. Here’s a link to a Map.

See you at the story stage!

*Note: double click on the schedule and it will appear full screen for easy viewing.