On Saturday, August 21st, the Antelope Valley Storytellers held their
debut at the Heart n’ Soul Coffee House.  To an audience of young  and
old alike, John McGee and Terry Rezek told their engrossing tales.  As
we listened, Warren and Kathay, the owners of Heart n Soul, provided us
with Salmon Salad, Beef Dip,  coffees and teas, and some incredible desserts.

Storytelling is an ancient art form that has just recently found a place
in our society again with mankind's search for myth and meaning in a
technological age.  As stated in a review of Joseph Daniel Sobol, The
Storytellers' Journey An American Revival, “Only a rambling and intimate
story can reveal such truths, which tend to be subsumed by the roar of
our electronic, visual, and virtual culture.”

"Nothing in modern media can compare to being face to face with a
person and feeling that person's heart and soul being poured into the
images and action of their stories," says Joseph Sobol. "It can be intoxicating."

Intoxicating is a perfect description for how the evening felt on
Saturday night.  We sat out on the patio, under cute little lanterns
with the fresh breeze to make us feel alive.   The stars were all out in
the evening sky and the moon had an eerie glow. Later, Warren brought
out heaters and we cuddled under blankets as we listened to the stories unfold.

After introductions, Terry initiated the storytelling evening with
“Search for the Truth” a very old story, the country of origin unknown,
but probably middle European, “Why the Raven is Black” from the
Australian Aborigine, and  a personal narrative from prehistoric
Wisconsin “The Five Dollar Day”.  Then John took us back in time in our
local history with his personal stories of  “The Story of the Antelope
Valley”, “The Elizabeth Lake Monster”, and “The Ghost Miner.”  After
that Terry was up again with “Follow Your Dream”  Terry’s original
folktale, “The Golden Slipper” from the Ukraine, and “The Sweetest
Melody” from Persia.  Then it was time for the last act, and John
regaled us with “The Legendary Tiz Bottle”, “The Barking Mouse” from
More Ready to Tell Tales told by Antonio Sacre, “The Bicycle Story”,
“Ashiepattle and the Princess” from Norway, and “The Great White Hunter.”

The children were especially fond of “The Barking Mouse”, as they had the
most opportunity to participate. The evening ended on a very high note.

After the stories, I asked John and Terry if they had a “storytelling
philosophy.” Why did they want to tell stories?

John: What I enjoy about storytelling is working to give each member of the
audience the view that I see in their own mind, and hopefully when I say
“look over there”, they see over there. I bring them on the journey.  I
know the trails and treasures of the story, and they're scouting it out with me.

One of my favorite quotes is by Joseph Campbell, “There is a romantic
idea that myth comes from the people. It doesn’t; it comes from the
teacher, the shaman and visionary as the giver and interpreter of myth.
The visionary translates what he sees into an art or ritual form.”

I've grown to enjoy history stories from listening to my father, and
from some of the teachers I had in school, some of whom I'm still in
touch with more the twenty years later. My father said, “You must learn
your history, for without it you can't know where you've come from, or
who you are. Without that knowledge, you can't know where to go, you'll
just wonder through life with no direction or understanding.”

Telling stories helps me to pass on that history, whether it be in folk
tales from pole to pole and as far as the east is from the west, or here
in our own back yard. Stories are an integral part of us. They bring us
the richness of times past. The hopes and fears common to all. They help
us to see our lives today in better perspective.

As Jane Yolen states in Favorite Folktales from around the World, “It is
because of that ability to structure and change, a seemingly magical
ability to hold past, present, and future in the Word, that storytellers
have been venerated in oral cultures all over the earth.  - Jane Yolen

When I bring to life a character through storytelling, that character
becomes immortal. In short, “Mortality ends when the Story Begins.”

Terry: Philosophy? I don't need no stinkin' philosophy. Maybe that's a
little rough. I tell because I enjoy it and oral storytelling is part of
my Bohemian heritage.

Terry suggested that instead of calling their group,  The Antelope
Valley Storytellers, they could call it, “Telling Lies For Fun & Profit
- Except Some Are True And There Is No Profit”, or is that too long?

For their next storytelling concert, they will have a whimsical theme.