True stories of everyday people

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Paul Francis Smith

Paul Smith grew up in a Navy family. In the 1960’s when he was a teenager they moved from Athens, Georgia to Monterey, California. Paul talks about the challenge of fitting in and learning to be true to himself.

Mary Lou Lofton

Mary Lou Lofton’s son Tim was full of energy and and joyful sound effects but he also feared two things that were designed to delight children. Both were to be found at the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis.

Sally Jane Perkins

Reflecting on her path to professional storytelling, Sally Perkins tells of preparing to tell a flannel graph story at church, before she knew how to read, at the age of five! She has been telling stories in public ever since.

Michael O’Brien

Michael Obrien talks about training to go to India with the Peace Corps in 1973, how growing up in a large family on a Wisconsin dairy farm helped prepare him for that work and how stories and language affect our world view.

Shannon Samson

Even though her newly adopted dog was female, Shannon changed her pet’s name to Matt Damon. Find out why.

Tammy Ann Lieber

Years after leaving home Tammy Lieber visited the rural farm house of her childhood periodically to reflect and rebuild her life. In this excerpt of her life story she describes listening to the wonderful range of sounds of the country heard from the porch and her...