Interview

Anne, why do you tell stories?

Stories are how we make sense of our lives. My stories express my view of the world. Characters, themes come alive for me and I want to share them. I love it when someone in the audience nods or laughs (or tears up!) because they relate to what I'm saying.

Where do you get your stories?

Mostly I create them. A character or situation occurs to me, and I talk out the shape of the story. Then I figure what the point is, and prune it down. It's fun to revisit a story I made up several years ago, and re-work it from my current perspective. It's always different.

  Notes: The Blue Remove

4:43 YouTube  |   2009, AVP Media

  Notes: Under the Bridge

1:55 YouTube  |   2009, AVP Media

Anne shows an early affinity for cowboy tales.

How did you get started?

In 1999 I got an idea for a storytelling show for adults. I'd been experimenting with storytelling for a while: it was time to act! I rented a hall, advertised, and people came. So I kept putting on programs, and diversified into working with children and elders. I also trained in improvisational theater, adding spontaneity to my storytelling style.
 
In 2006 I was hired to create a CD of original stories and songs about migratory birds in Portland. Since then I've used music more and more in my storytelling, and am recording my own stories as well. I've been storytelling for a dozen years now; my husband and I joke that in another ten years, I'll be an overnight success!

Who influenced your storytelling?

The Catholic tradition I grew up in is chock-full of stories. Authors I read a lot as a kid: Poe, Saki, O. Henry, Erma Bombeck, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury... Oral storytellers: Garrison Keillor, Bill Cosby and George Carlin. My grandpa, who convinced me the camp-robber birds would carry me off if I strayed too far from our campsite.

Do you write your stories down?

Not while I'm creating them. Writing a story for an audience to hear, versus read, takes different rhythm and word choices. It's a different art form.

Then how do your remember them?

Even if it is a fictional story, I live it in my imagination until its events and people are real to me. Then I see it in my mind while I'm telling it, and can change details depending on the circumstances, keeping it fresh.
 
Ideally, in performance it sounds like I'm relating something that just occurred to me. The audience doesn't care how many iterations it took to get there!

...it's like going on a vacation in your own mind, with me as tour guide.

What can people expect at your shows?

To feel relaxed and invigorated. You create the story in your imagination as I tell it, so it's like going on a vacation in your own mind, with me as tour guide. People often tell me they're refreshed after a performance, that my stories (like those of any good storyteller) sparked memories and ideas for them.

What's your personal background?

I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, in a little town on the banks of the Susquhanna River that was a cross between Norman Rockwell and Stephen King. Its' characters and setting crops up a lot in my stories. I went to college in Rhode Island, then came west to Portland with a volunteer organization in 1983.
 
I loved Portland, stayed here, did a lot of odd jobs, eventually got a Masters degree in public administration and worked for the Oregon health division. Left that to start a mediation practice, got a taste of being an entrepreneur, and started storytelling. With my husband Ron's support, I'm now a storyteller full time.

Any final words?

Thanks to everyone who has given my storytelling a try, by coming to a show or listening to a CD. Special thanks if you've spread the word to other people! This is an oral tradition and that's how people find me, word of mouth. After all, without you, I'm talking to myself.