A message from Bob Kanegis We really shouldn't be meeting this way!  After all, sharing stories is and should remain one of the the most convivial, face to face experiences possible.  That's what I love about storytelling and that's why I've made it my life. So, lacking a campfire, or kitchen to sit with you, I'll do my best here to convey what I'd like you to know about me. Many years ago I showed up at an old Alaska sourdough's log cabin in Homer Alaska, young, green and unexpected.  I knocked on the door, and without looking up, Poopdeck called out..."Don't stand there on the outside looking in...Come in and look out!  And that, expresses exactly what I hope to achieve with my audiences when we're together, a sense of participation in the world... It is a wide wonderful world out there, and what better place than a library full of books and with a storyteller to drink at the 'well o' the world. During those years in Alaska, I had the privilege of hearing Klondike Gold Rush pioneers, and native elders tell their tales.  Maybe that's where my case of story fever started. More likely, it was back in Spring Valley New York where I got my first library card at age three and a love of reading from my mother.  From Dad it was a love of the outdoors and planting trees.   I came back from ten years in Alaska, commercial fishing, building trails, directing youth conservation camps and completed a degree in environmental education.  That led to more years directing camps and environmental education facilities and naturally great opportunities for storytelling. Along the way I stumbled into a wonderful group of professional and amateur storytellers who were generous, welcoming, and encouraging. That was over twenty years ago.  I've been on the story trail ever since.  It's a challenging and rewarding life.  I love traveling to new places, meeting new friends, circling back and visiting old ones. Best of all with Liz, I met a partner in life and story. Liz and I also direct Future WAVE. It's amazing! We discovered that conflict resolution work, environmental education, and storytelling are all completely connected.  It's about being in good relationship with all our fellow inhabitants.  How wonderful when all your work connects in this way, and I do think that this outlook seeps into my telling. Lately I've been fond of quoting Jonas Salk who said "Our greatest responsibility is to become good ancestors." That's a good place to say...'nuff said.'

A message from Liz Mangual For many years I witnessed the enchantment and joy on children's faces as my partner Bob told stories.   One day I said out loud what I'd been saying to myself.  I want to do that.  I can do that! So then…I left my job as an executive at United Way in Oakland California and joined Bob on the story trail.  But that's getting ahead of the story.  I was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York City when I was still a baby.  My first encounter with storytelling was hearing my mother tell 'un dia' - or 'back in the day' stories-stories about what it was like for her growing up on the island.  I heard these stories in Spanish.  Though I quickly learned English, I was determined not to lose my first language so that I could communicate with my grandmother.  Many years later I discovered the wonderful folktales from Puerto Rico.  Perhaps you've heard of Juan Bobo, the kind but often foolish boy who constantly gets in and out of trouble.  I love to tell stories about Juan Bobo because I think there is a little bit of him in all of us. In my career as a family advocate, working with a very diverse clientele, I discovered that I could communicate with people even if we don't speak the same language.  The language of the heart is universal.  In storytelling I have found another way to communicate that universal language. I practice the 'art of encouragement'.  I encourage adventure, discovery, and a sense of belonging.  And so when I am on tour, I offer a program that weaves together folktales, with little snippets of my own culture, and sprinkle in observations about the people and places I've visited along the way.  In this way, I hope that my audiences find that 'little bit of themselves' in the stories and...a wide world waiting to be discovered. When Bob and I began working together we made a decision to create projects that would bring together people with the widest possible range of cultures, backgrounds and ages.  FEAST was born - Families Eating and Storytelling Together.  Not long after that we had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with UNICEF, the National Park Service and several school districts in imagining and planning the Vision and Voices project.  Three hundred students shared their stories of peace and hope for a healthy planet in an ancient redwood forest with visitors and diplomats from around the world. Now that I live in New Mexico, I can say that I've moved from La Isla del Encanto to La Tierra del Encanto - The Island of Enchantment to the Land of Enchantment.  I'd love to share the joy and enchantment of storytelling in your community!