By Walt Belcher
Brought together by COVID and Zoom, the monthly meetings of the Doc Moore Storytelling Guild is a fun event that I discovered last year, and one that I love to attend.
Professional storyteller and author Tim Tingle is the welcoming host to this story swap, named in honor of the late beloved Texas storyteller Joe “Doc” Moore who passed away in 2017.
Doc Moore was one of Tim’s mentors. He also was a former President of the Tejas Storytelling Association and board member of the National Storytelling Network.
Tim and Doc Moore authored books together (“Texas Ghost Stories”, “Fifty Favorites for the Telling”, “Spooky Texas Tales”, and “More Spooky Texas Tales”). Tim is the author of more than 20 books.
There are a lot of laughs and good times shared at the monthly Zoom gatherings – as well as stories. So I’m excited to meet, see and hear Tim in person at the Florida Storytelling Festival coming up in a few weeks.
Maybe he will lead us in the Choctaw National Anthem which he sings at the close of the Zoom story swaps. You may not know the words, but the melody is from an old Christian hymn.
Tingle, who grew up in Texas, is an Oklahoma Choctaw. His great-great grandfather, John Carnes, walked the Trail of Tears in 1835, and his paternal grandmother attended Native American boarding schools in the early 1900s.
To preserve the legacy of the Choctaw culture, Tim’s family shared stories of their heritage and the struggles that Native Americans face.
A graduate of the University of Texas, he earned a master’s degree in English Literature (with a focus in Native American Studies) from the University of Oklahoma in 2003.
A featured storyteller at festivals across the nation, he often performs at the Texas Storytelling Festival, He has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival. Tingle’s first book, “Walking the Choctaw Road”, was recognized by Storytelling World Magazine as the Best Anthology of 2003.
Of course, I’m excited to meet all the tellers at this year’s Florida Festival, including the renowned Connie Regan-Blake (see the August blog on this site about Connie’s Ray Hicks tribute).
Of course, I’m excited to meet all the tellers at this year’s Florida Festival, including the renowned Connie Regan-Blake (see the August blog on this site about Connie’s Ray Hicks tribute).
Another featured teller Eva Abram offers a powerful dramatic experience (see a December blog about her dramatic stories).
And we will welcome two wonderful Florida tellers in Mary Lou Williams (see a November blog on this site about her fractured fairy tales) and Chris Kastle, an award-winning storyteller, songsmith, and author. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Mary Lou and Chris.
All the featured tellers are profiled on this website.
If you haven’t got your tickets yet, get them as soon as you can. This promises to be another memorable festival.
Looking forward to hearing all these tellers and seeing so many friends at the end of January!
Thank you for this informative blog on Tim Tingle and the Doc Moore Storytelling Guild. I am looking forward to seeing him in person at the festival.
This Storytelling Festival was a Incredible Spectacular Event. Mount Dora was the best place to have it
I would like to attend the zoom monthly meeting that Tim was talking about. Would you please give him my email.
Thank you, Eileen Boucher eyelean1121@aol.com