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By Diane Forrest
In the 1970's my mother began working in the library at
the junior high school I attended. She
continued working at school libraries until she retired, and now she volunteers
at the church library every week. She
always attended local literary events, and one night she took me along to one
of these events. There was a writer in
town at our local city library, and she was going to be telling ghost stories
from the books she wrote. Her name was Katherine Wyndam Tucker, and wrote
several books, one of them was Ghosts of Mississippi. It included several short stories of actual
ghost stories.
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When we entered the library we all sat around in a circle
listening to her tales, and I was mesmerized. It was wonderful listening as she
described the events in minute details, and the actual events left an eerie
feeling in the room. It had such an effect on me that I purchased several of
her books, and gave some to my mother.
Our city is also home to the oldest military college in
the state. It has long been closed, but
the grounds remain open for visits. Each
year around Halloween they have a storytelling night. Hoping to share the same experience I had
with my son, I took him to this event one year.
We all sat outside on a hill surrounded with old oak trees with strands
of Spanish moss hanging from the limbs.
It was a cool night and the only light we had was from the full moon
that shown around us. The speakers stood
in front of the group, each one telling tales of ghosts, and the event was a
success, and my son was properly frightened.
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The ability to tell stories is a wonderful gift. When you think about it, our lives are
nothing but stories woven together. We
learn about our family history through stories told by our ancestors, many of
the movies we watch are just stories acted out on the big screen. Some come from imagination and others from
actual events. However it is the gift of
storytelling that allows the listener to become involved in the story, and it
is retained in the memory for many years to come.
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This weekend is the National Storytelling festival. Many cities will host storytelling
events. Jonesbourgh, TN hosts a big
event each year during the first weekend in October. I would encourage you to check your area for
a storytelling event. Its not just for
children, but adults enjoy it as well.
To learn more about the Jonesbourgh event, or to watch
storytelling live, click this site: http://www.storytellingcenter.net/events/national-storytelling-festival/
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