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Mary Ann Blue
is a Spanish teacher and professional storyteller from San Antonio, Texas. As a professional storyteller, she has worked in a variety of settings since 1988. In addition to being a past featured teller at Storyfest numerous times, she has also has been a featured teller at a number of other festivals, including the Tejas Storytelling Festival in Denton, Texas. Her story “Tio Conejo and the Hurricane” has been published in several short story collections. She has also appeared as a guest storyteller on the PBS television show Barney
and Friends. Mary Ann has worked in education for thirty years, teaching children from pre-school to high school. Presently, she teaches Spanish at the Lower School at St. Mary’s Hall in San
Antonio.
Tom Taylor
is an award-winning actor and storyteller, songwriter/singer, poet, and author, as well as a veteran teacher of theater/oral interpretation/speech and English at the public school, community college, and university levels. Composer of more than 800 poems and songs—nearly half of which were penned for children—and author of seven children’s books and numerous recordings, Tom began writing seriously when touring with his heralded one-man play as Woody Guthrie, comprising presentations throughout the U.S., Canada, Scotland, and England. He has conducted countless performances and workshops in churches, prisons, festivals, camps, and hospitals from China to Great Britain. In America, Tom has performed everywhere from L.A.’s Skid Row to Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.; from Death Row to Off-Broadway’s famed Cherry Lane Theater, to the East Room of the White House, and the Library of Congress.
DeCee Cornish was raised in Houston’s “Fifth Ward.” At the age of eighteen, he joined the military and for over a decade lived among the peoples of the Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia, Australia, Alaska, and the desert tribes of the Southwest. He attended colleges and universities worldwide. DeCee works with at-risk kids, using stories to teach and motivate. A member of the Tarrant Area Guild and National Storyteller Association, he has conducted workshops and performed across the state. He has held residence positions at Texas A&M University and Tarrant County College.
Mark Babino
is a Creole Texas, born in Beaumont but now teaching in San Antonio, Texas. In recent years, he has honed his storytelling skills to a fine point and now appears regularly at storytelling events around the state, such as the Texas Storytelling Festival, the Boerne Storytelling Festival, San Antonio City Parks Ghost Stories, the San Antonio Library, and other school, civic and private events. He has been a featured storyteller at the Institute of Texan Culture events such as the Texas Folklife Festival, Texas Children’s Festival, and Midwinter Tales in 1997 and 2000, and the Halloween Concert Texas
Ghosts and Cucuis in 2002. In addition, he has recorded story segments for the Institute. Mark is a member of the San Antonio Storytellers Association and Tejas Storytelling Association and
producer of San Antonio’s TELLABRATION!
Larry Thompson
has been in front of audiences for 25 years. Whether in storytelling performances for adults and children, providing emcee services for indoor and outdoor events, or providing technical and soft skill training, Larry is at home helping the audience laugh, learn, and let loose. He has told stories on mountain tops and in valleys from New Mexico to South Carolina and many large and small places in between. Larry tells cowboy tales, folk tales, and home-grown tales and guarantees to make the audience smile. He has recorded two compact discs with old and new favorite stories and has published a book of his own campfire stories. His newest book, Wild
West—Plastic Cowboys and Indians Have Feelings Too, is a collection of western stories. He is past president of the San Antonio Storytelling Association.
Consuelo Samarripa, a second generation Texan born in the West side barrios of San Antonio, is a storyteller, folklorist, author, performing artist, and
speaker. She founded, produced, and directed the first Tejas Hispanic Storytelling Concert and later the Festivals under the auspices of the Texas Commission on the Arts and The City of Austin
Cultural Connections Program. She has been on the Mid-America Arts Alliance, which spans through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas. Since 2001, Consuelo has been
selected to the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster. Hyde Park’s Theater’s state manager and crew selected “Just Like Any Kid,” written and presented by Consuelo, as one of five special
performances chosen for Austin’s Frontera Fest’s “Best of the Fest-Wild Card Night.” Consuelo loves to share the richness of her Mexican culture and her primary language, Spanish, using her own
unique bilingual blends.
Mary Grace Ketner
, a native Texan and downtown San Antonian, is a
storyteller and writer who delves into folktales and legends from world cultures, seeking poignant narratives of those values common to all human. With teaching experience in Language Arts, English,
Spanish, and Special Education and work as an educational specialist in a museum of history and culture, Mary Grace understands the role of artistry in advancing a community of learners. Now
officially retired, she continues to work as a free-lance storyteller. She was selected for the Texas Communication on the Arts Touring Artist Roster 2008-10. She is a member of the San Antonio
Storytellers Association, the San Antonio Arts in Education Task Force, the Tejas Storytelling Association, and the National Storytellers Association. Presently, she serves on the Tejas Storytelling
Association Board of Governors. Published works include magazine articles, one book, and two audiotapes.
Donna Ingham, an award winning author and performer of the spoken word from
Spicewood, Texas, now has 28 of her favorite Texas tales collected in a book, Tales with a Texas Twist (2005). Her two newest books about Texas are 1001 Greatest Things Ever Said about Texas (2006) and You
Know You’re in Texas When (2007). A retired English professor turned author and storyteller, Donna has spent over 30 years as a writer and teacher of writing and over 12 years performing as a
professional storyteller. Featured on the Exchange Place stage at the National Storytelling Festival in 2003, she has also performed at every major storytelling and folk festival in her home state
and in several other states and in Europe. She is the 2007 recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award for “outstanding contributions to the art of storytelling.” In her work, she takes the ancient
art of storytelling and gives it a Texas twist with a unique repertoire of tales drawn from folklore and history, particularly that from her own Texas roots; from personal narratives she’s created about
growing up an only child (and so did her sister); and from myths, legends, and fairy tales she has Texanized and made truly her own. She also was the very first winner of the Texas State Liars’
Contest © at Storyfest.
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