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Tim Lowry
- Male
- Sumerville, SC
- United States
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Profile Information
- About Me:
- How long have you been telling?
I have been telling professionally for more than twenty years. I started with the cupcake circuit and now work the pencil circuit and mashed potato circuit. I have been making my entire living as a storyteller for eight years. I look forward to working in the festival circuit on a more regular basis.
What is your range of repertoire?
I specialize in stories of American history and folklore. Working the pencil circuit brings me into classrooms to tell the stories of American heroes like Francis Marion and Clara Barton, or stories of particular times like the period of immigration or the Great Depression. Being born and raised in Kentucky and having lived all of my adult life in South Carolina, I often tell personal experience stories with a Southern perspective. For festival and family audiences I mix folktales of the American South in with stories of my Southern heritage.
What is your favorite type of storytelling environment?
I am very much at home in schools. The enthusiasm of the students for an exciting story is contagious. I think the students often see the storyteller in the traditional role of the "keeper of knowledge" or even "the keeper of mystery." This is a role that comes with much responsibility and much reward. I also very much enjoy the atmosphere of a festival. The dynamic of having an audience of mixed ages is challenging, but also very rewarding. I think the festival atmosphere is more like the telling around the hearth fire or at the market place of ancient times-- the storyteller serving the community at every level, very young to very old.
What are some of the most notable venues where you have performed?
International Tour Management Symposium, San Diego, CA 2008 (return by popular demand)
Stories For Life Festival/Piccolo Spoleto, Charleston, SC, 2007
Connecticut Storytelling Festival, New London, CT, 2007
North Carolina School Librarians Conference, Winston-Salem, NC, 2006
Dorchester 2 Schools, Summerville, SC, Teller in Residence for 8 years, 2000 - 2008
Are you working any special projects in the community?
I am currently serving on the festival committee for the Stories For Life Festival/Piccolo Spoleto. I am in charge of lodging and meals for 15 storytellers coming to the festival from all over the country. I also am on a committee to begin a performing artist series at my church. We have our inaugural concert on April 18. I am currently the secretary for the South Carolina Storytelling Network.
Do you have any particular type of story that really "fires you up"?
I love stories of everyday heroes, stories that I have collected from written and oral sources about ordinary people working through extraordinary circumstances. What I like about these stories is the optimism, hope, and encouragement they bring to me and my listeners. Every age has its heroes, every group has its saint, every tribe has its champion and the greatest of these often lives right next door!
Why do you do what you do?
I look upon my storytelling as a calling. I pray that my audience will experience something greater than me and greater than the story when they come to the storytelling experience. I hope they come away having "touched the dragon" and lived. This all sounds so "pie in the sky", but for me it is very real. Dragons are real and people are often afraid. I want them to know that stories help reveal the truth and there is no fear in truth. I wish to be a "truth teller." I wish to live and speak with an honesty and frankness that encourages and empowers those around me-- my family, my friends, my community, my country, and our world.
References:
Linda Stout, Stories For Life Festival Director, (843) 884-0116 tellstories@yahoo.com
Joy Derrick, Summerville Elementary Lead Teacher, (843) 873-2372 jderrick@dorchester2.k12.sc.us
John Olson, Pastor Church Creek Presbyterian, (843) 766-1381 hasvedt@aol.com
- Website:
- http://www.storytellertimlowry.com
Each spring, during the month of May, my wife and I host a Storyteller's Tea for the top readers at the elementary school that is next door to our house. The kids walk over from the school with their teachers and enjoy tea and homemade treats under the oak trees in our back yard. After tea we play games, make crafts, and have a storytelling program. Our theme last spring was "Hansel and Gretel" with gingerbread houses, cookie decorating, and selections from Humperdink's opera version of the story. I've posted some photos below. We are planning this year's theme which will be "Little House On The Prairie."
Tim Lowry's Photos
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How's Leah? She continues to be in my prayers. As does Bonnie. I know this must be difficult for her and the rest of the family as well.
Love you guys,
Pam
Love you guys,
Pam
Hope you and Bonnie are doing well. I love your pictures on this site! Staying busy I hope. Janet
I record May 13th and have the 14th to edit. I've been working hard to get it ready. Please say a prayer for me! I'll do the same for you and your big ventrue. I'd love to tell in SC.
Love you,
Pam
Did you and Bonnie make your plans for the NSN conference? Where will you be staying? I haven't booked my hotel room yet.
Pam
Janet
Thanks, Holly
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