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Fall 2005 Lecture Series -- The Power of Stories

Stories are everywhere in our world. They are at the heart of all cultures and are found in books, movies, television, songs, myths, and in the traditions we pass from generation to generation. For our fall series, we will celebrate the Power of Stories in our lives.

Saturday, Sept. 24:  Bob Dotson, NBC Correspondent for Today –

·         “Lunch with the Speaker,” 11:30 am-1:30 pm at The Range 

·         Lecture from 5-7 pm at the Salado Silver Spur Theater, 108 Royal St., Salado; “People Who Make A Difference”

Sunday, Oct. 9:  Betty Sue Flowers, Director of the LBJ Library, author, poet, and expert on stories and myths. She will talk about the importance of stories and myths in our lives.

Saturday Oct. 22:  “Writing Central Texan’s Lives” – A writing workshop and presentation in partnership with the UT Humanities Institute to launch a project to produce and collect stories about central Texan’s lives and experiences.  Open to the public.  ($20)  Limited space. Advance Reservations required.

Weekend of Nov. 5-6:  A Storytelling weekend with nationally acclaimed storytellers, Elizabeth Ellis, David Holt and Bill Mooney.

Presenters

Bob Dotson

NBC News Correspondent Bob Dotson’s approach to the news is to seek the extraordinary stories in ordinary lives. He travels the world, reporting stories that touch the viewer’s heart.  His special reports, American Stories, are seen on the Today Show and other NBC News programs. He was also the writer and host of Bob Dotson's America, a series of half-hour programs for The Travel Channel, and is also an internationally acclaimed documentary producer.

 Betty Sue Flowers, PhD

Poet, editor, author, professor and business consultant, Betty Sue Flowers, is the Director of the LBJ Presidential Library.  Before her appointment she was the Kelleher Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin where she is a member of the Distinguished Teachers Academy. She is also a Senior Research Fellow of the IC2 Institute, and a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Texas. 

Her publications range from poetry therapy to the economic myth, including two books of poetry and four television tie-in books in collaboration with Bill Moyers, among them, the best-selling Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth.  She has served as a moderator for executive seminars at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, consultant for NASA, member of the Envisioning Network for General Motors, and editor of Global Scenarios for Shell International in London and the World Business Council in Geneva.

Writing Central Texan’s Lives Project—A Writing Workshop for Personal Stories

Each of us has stories to tell—of our experiences, our history, our lives. To help those stories come to life on paper, The Salado Institute is initiating a Bell County version of the hugely successful “Writing Austin’s Lives Project.” This project will produce and collect stories about central Texan’s lives by helping people learn how to write about their experiences.

With the help of the University of Texas Humanities Institute, the Austin project’s sponsor, the Salado Institute will launch “Writing Central Texan’s Lives.”  At the October 22 event, Dr. Evan Carton, director of the UT Humanities Institute and editor of the book Writing Austin’s Lives, will present an overview of the project. This will be followed by a life-writing workshop taught by Abriel Louise Young, an Austin writer, poet, and the designer of the Writing Austin's Lives life-writing workshops.

Elizabeth tells Texas stories, fairy tales, and folktales from cultures all over the world. She is a founding member of the Dallas Storytelling Guild. 

Bill Mooney

Actor, director and storyteller, Bill Mooney, has been telling stories since the late 60’s when his one-man show, Half Horse, Half Alligator, featuring humorous tales from America’s moving frontier, opened to rave reviews in New York. For the next three decades, his storytelling flourished alongside his acting successful career, as he appeared in plays on and off-Broadway, in movies, and on television shows. He starred as Paul Martin for 13 years on the ABC daytime serial, All My Children, and is a two-time Emmy nominee for that role.

In the storytelling world he is best known for his one-man shows.  Damn Everything But The Circus, based on the writings of E. E. Cummings, became a PBS Special, as did his one-man show, With A Dog’s Eyes, the story of the founder of the organization that trains guide dogs for the blind.

David won two Grammy Awards for Stellaluna, a collection of bat stories, and two Grammy’s for Legacy, a collection of songs and stories about the life of Doc Watson.