 Sylvia Payne's ability to combine
captivating entertainment with important messages has made her a favorite for speaking engagements of all kinds.
Debuting as a storyteller in fifth grade, she has yet to stop delighting listeners of all ages. Her storytelling repertoire includes
folktales, family and personal stories, North Carolina legends, ghosts and stories of history, and stories that touch the soul. Sylvia
has presented programs for 30 years, traveling throughout the southeast. She serves as North Carolina Storytelling Guild's Membership
Director and editor of the Journal of Tar Heel Tellers, the Guild's official newsletter, and serves as a member of the NC Humanities
Speakers' Forum. |
 Pricilla Best is the Heart to Heart Storyteller who delights audiences in school, community,
festival, conference and library settings with
African, African American folktales as well as other folktales, chants, poetry and contemporary stories from various cultures. She worked
for more than 30 years in public education. As a retired teacher and library media coordinator, Priscilla now uses her training and
educational experiences to produce storytelling programs that are exciting, enriching and age-appropriate. Her school assemblies may be
designed to address literacy, character education, cultural enrichment or other themes. Priscilla has also served as storyteller in many
library and cultural festivals. In the fall of 2004, Priscilla journeyed to South Africa where she told stories as part of the USA
delegation from the National Storytelling Network |
 Ray Mendenhall
does interactive songs and stories with children (of all ages), family programs, intergenerational storytelling, school and educational
programs. He tells traditional folk tales and fairytales as well as a few original tales. He can do Biblical and religious storytelling for
churches, camps and religious groups. Ray tells stories from several different cultures: English, American, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and
Gypsy stories. He enjoys telling original stories about people in and around Fork, a ficitious town in North Carolina. In February, Ray won
third-place in the Storytelling Arts Center of the Southeast's first Bold-Faced Liars' Showdown.
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| Dr. Thom Bristow
, a South Carolina native, believes that the key to human survival on this planet is a good sense of humor. Using a high
level of energy, he plays the tenor guitar and the strum stick as he strives to enhance the survival process with traditional as well as
original stories and songs. He comes bearing messages from the turkeys of the world and introduces a country character, Persimmon
Plumbottom, who makes penetrating social commentary. Dr. Bristow seeks to touch the sould and the funny bone. He is a Family Therapist and
an educatore who uses stories in therapy and in teaching. He is available for workshops to teachers, therapists and parents. |
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Mitch Capel
, also known as Gran'daddy Junebug, is a master storyteller, recording artist and writer. He has been described by noted publications
as "a word magician," "a national treasure" and "unexpectedly powerful." He is the national interpreter of poet laureat Paul Laurence Dunbar.
He has been a headline storyteller at both the prestigious National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN and the traveling National
Black Storytelling Conference. He is also the co-founder of the National African-American Storytellers' Retreat held annually in North
Carolina. Mitch attended North Carolina A&T State University and Howard University studying speech and theatre; but more importantly, he is
a full-time honor student at the "university of life"!
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