One reason we love story, whether telling or listening, is that story can send us into the past where we learn about where we came from and about how we arrived where we are today. And if we’re smart, we will let that knowledge guide us to where we want to be tomorrow. This year’s Timpanogos Storytelling Festival features three storytellers who will take us back to the annuls of history, teach us a little about how far . . .
Bil Lepp is an amazing storyteller and an even better liar. I have listened to his stories for years, and every single time, he hooks me right from the very beginning. He gets on stage wearing blue jeans, a tucked-in t-shirt, and a ball cap. He’s an average all-American guy that looks like your brother or your next-door neighbor. He puts his hands in his pockets and just starts telling you about something that happened when he was young . . .
It was a lovely October day in Jonesborough, Tennessee, several years ago when my Timpanogos Storytelling friends and I attended the National Storytelling Festival. We wandered into a tent where Andy Offutt Irwin was making his debut on the national storytelling scene. There he stood—a tallish, youngish, lanky fellow with straw-colored hair spinning stories about the crazy antics of his elderly, southern Aunt Marguerite . . .
