Beth Horner
Beth Horner is noted as a vivacious talent dedicated to providing an entertaining and empowering experience for her listeners, young and old. A National Storytelling Network Circle of Excellence Oracle Award winner, Beth has been sought after as a storytelling performance and teaching artist since 1983. She has performed multiple times at the National Storytelling Festival, on Live From National Geographic, at Miami’s International Art of Storytelling Festival, and most recently served as narrative consultant for NASA/Johnson Space Center’s Story Mining project for which she collected the stories of the scientists behind the Apollo Space Missions. Horner’s lively, traditional storytelling style often incorporates music, creating a unique performance which critics have called “dynamite!” Each program for children, teens or adults is designed for the specific audience’s age and interests (with listener participation for young audience). An acclaimed performer for over 28 years, Beth Horner takes her listeners on journeys of adventure, warmth, wonder, haunting eeriness and raucous laughter.
Sam Payne
Since 2013, Sam Payne has hosted The Apple Seed on BYU Radio, a daily radio program filled with folk tales, fairy tales, personal tales, tall tales, family tales and more. Sam serves as the Weber State University Storytelling Fellow, and for the last three decades has brought his own stories and songs to halls in Canada, Bulgaria, Tokyo, and from coast to coast in the United States, including the Will Rogers Auditorium in Dallas, Texas and the Kennedy Center in the nation’s capitol. Sam has been featured at festival s large and small, including the National Storytelling Festival and the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. He has authored educational publications for children, with a regular readership of more than two million elementary school students. In addition to a catalog of award-winning music and storytelling recordings, Sam has created stage works like “Sanctuary: the story of Zion,” commissioned to celebrate the centennial of the National Parks Service, and books like “Echoes of Hammers and Spikes” (with Suzanne Payne), commissioned to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.
Heather McNeil
Heather is an award-winning third generation storyteller, and has represented the United States at international storytelling festivals in Scotland and New Zealand. She has collected folk tales on her trips to Africa and her ancestral homeland in Scotland. She has published two books of these tales, “Hyena and the Moon: Stories to Tell From Kenya” and “The Celtic Breeze: Stories of the Otherworld From Scotland, Ireland and Wales.” She can tell a wicked creepy ghost story, an inspiring story of a little ground squirrel standing up to a power-abusing lion, and many more.
Eva Abram
Eva Abram is a traditional storyteller and actor. Her engaging traditional tales and literary stories are told with masterful use of gesture and physical expression. She has delighted audiences from elementary age to adult, leaving them with a laugh, something to ponder or a gem of wisdom.
Her solo performances are inspired by America’s rich history. Whether portraying a well-known historical character or unsung heroes, her stories compel audiences to feel emotionally connected to that history. They remind us that we are strands of the same cloth woven together by history.
Eva is a storyteller of extraordinary talent. Whether folktale or living history, her stories, rich with wisdom and humor, are delivered with captivating grace and style. Watching and listening to Eva’s performances is a delightful experience. Naomi Baltuck:Storyteller/Author
Local Tellers
Eric Foxman
After decades exploring the remotest corners of the globe collecting tales, Eric Foxman has retired to a dim and distant corner of his library and become an armchair storyteller. Along he way he has been active with the Portland Storytellers’ Guild for almost a decade, including more than half that time on its Board. He has performed on Whidbey Island, up and down the I-5 corridor, in New England, Texas, New York, Ontario, and Germany. His fancy is tickled by stories with humor, those that depict folks overcoming unusual circumstances, tales with an unexpected ending, and by a well-turned phrase. Who doesn’t like a good yarn?
Billie Mazzei
Billie has been telling stories for as long as she can remember. Her newest book Fat, Faithful, and Fairly Flirty, is a compilation of personal stories, poems, pictures, and recipes. Sometimes she gets applause, sometimes groans, and occasionally raised eyebrows. She has been a member of the South Sound Story Guild longer than she can remember.
Anne Brendler
Anne Brendler came to storytelling when she discovered story as a magical and fun tool for communicating what she wanted to teach her elementary students. A listener first, Anne stresses the importance of careful and imaginative listening, for a good story is the creation of both the teller and the listener together! Anne, now a retired teacher, has two grandchildren, whose classmates are the audience when Anne comes to tell stories as a volunteer in their school library. She strives to tell stories that are uplifting and entertaining, always with an emphasis on fun.
Al Fowler
Classical, folk and traditional stories come to life as Al Fowler welcomes you into his world of adventure and intrigue. A retired military chaplain, he has been richly blessed with personal experiences that afford a glimpse of the military and the church, two cultures that are in our midst but are rarely spoken of from the inside. Al has been telling stories for years in every Canadian province and territory. He has conducted storytelling workshops for Sunday School teachers and Fisheries Scientists. It was his pleasure to chair a national conference of the Storytellers of Canada – Conteurs du Canada (SC-CC.) Al Fowler is a life member of SC-CC and is presently their communications director.
Erran Sharpe
Erran Sharpe uses stories of growth and change in his work as a counselor. Ever since he was a teenager he has loved how ancient stories tell deep truth about life. He found himself slowly and inexplicably drawn to telling in front of audiences, despite his naturally shy and introverted nature. Now he eagerly seeks opportunities to share stories with audiences. Erran loves traditional international tales, fairy tales, and ancient Greek myths full of irony and tragedy.
