Friends of the Library to Host Masterful Storyteller
is among the most famous triple threats in the world of storytelling.
He has authored 18 books, including (2005, August House, Inc.).
He has made 40 storytelling recordings.
And he continues to make his mark as a live-performance artist, which he will demonstrate on April 21 during the annual Friends of the Library Spring Luncheon, in Stokes Student Center on Pfeiffer鈥檚 Misenheimer, N.C. campus. He is the recipient of both the Circle of Excellence Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Storytelling Network.
Davis promises that he鈥檒l tell 鈥渘o more than two鈥� stories at the highly anticipated event, but he is keeping said tale or tales a mystery until the very last moment.
鈥淚 have some nominations for stories in my head,鈥� he said recently, adding that the one he elects will be based on his sense of the event鈥檚 organizers and audience members.
The material Davis chooses will almost certainly reflect his signature blend of influences and storytelling philosophies. Now often called 鈥淭he Dean of Storytelling,鈥� he grew up in the Appalachian mountains of western North Carolina, where storytelling was the dominant form of DIY entertainment. Television, which featured but one channel out of Asheville, N.C., wouldn鈥檛 become a factor in his life until he turned 13.
During his youth, Davis (b. 1944) was introduced to tales of Scots-Irish ancestry in which Jack, the central figure, overcomes such trials as earning a living, finding a mate and subduing ogres of all kinds. He also soaked up elements of large family gatherings that were as much about conversations that turned into lengthy stories as they were about eating dinner on Sunday afternoon.
鈥淚t was a very oral world, and I was surrounded by it constantly,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淢y Uncle Frank, my dad鈥檚 younger brother, could easily tell a story that was an hour long, and everybody would be looking for it.鈥�
In time, Davis would become most attracted to stories of his family and their places of origin. More often than not, these highlight unusual predicaments faced by children in ordinary settings of school, home, or church. Davis favors telling these tales, particularly to multigenerational audiences, because 鈥渢he one place everyone鈥檚 been is childhood,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he grandparents get it, the parents get it, and the children get it.鈥�
Davis honed his storytelling craft in sermons he delivered over a 25-year career as a United Methodist minister. This was done out of necessity: 鈥淲hen I first came out of seminary, I was still preaching the way I was taught, watching people fall asleep. Gradually, I began to pull storytelling more and more and more into my sermons.
鈥淏y the time I was in the last 15 years of those 25 years as a minister, it was pretty much storytelling down the line. And that鈥檚 what really worked. A lot of the big stories I now tell started off as little stories in sermons.鈥�
Davis now likens storytelling to a type of travel in which wisdom is passed down. The traveling begins with our using physical maps until we get familiar with where we are, at which point the map becomes 鈥渋nternal in our heads.鈥� A similar concept applies to the movement of our lives.
鈥淲e鈥檙e moving forward on a map that we鈥檝e drawn in our heads,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淭hat map determines where we鈥檙e going, where we may possibly go, and where we鈥檙e not going to go. It鈥檚 very limiting as well as enabling. We鈥檙e actually living out a story. We鈥檝e written the story that we think we鈥檙e going to live ahead of time, and we鈥檙e living our way into it.鈥�
Want to go?
What: The Friends of the Library Presents Storyteller Donald Davis
When: April 21 at 11 a.m.
Where: The Community Room of the Stokes Student Center on Pfeiffer鈥檚 Misenheimer, N.C. campus
Cost (including lunch): $35
To make reservations, go to .