Oral History Program Lynn Wing Interviewed by Marina Kenner 27 March 2021 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Lynn Wing Interviewed by Marina Kenner 27 March 2021 Copyright © 2022 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description The WSU Storytelling Festival was implemented by the Friends of the Stewart Library in 1992. The library sponsored and managed the annual festival until 1998, when the festival was moved to the Department of Teacher Education, with the Library continuing as a sponsor. The three-day festival entails storytellers from all over the nation, including youth storytellers. The events are made up of workshops and presentations, a fund-raising banquet, and a wrap-up of wonderful stories from gifted performers. This interesting collection includes oral history interviews with visiting storytellers, discussing how they became interested in storytelling and where they receive their inspiration. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Wing, Lynn, an oral history by Marina Kenner, 27 March 2021, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. 1 Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Lynn Wing, conducted on March 26, 2021, by Marina Kenner, via Zoom. Lynn discusses her life, her career as a storyteller, and her memories of the Weber State University Storytelling Festival. MK: Today is March 26, 2021, it is 12:43 p.m., I am doing a storytelling oral history interview with Lynn Wing, this is Marina Kenner, and we are doing this via zoom. How did you become interested and involved in storytelling? LW: I always had an infinity for it, my parents would share stories and I was fascinated by them. I loved to read. I would share little snippets of stories as a kid growing up that probably didn't make much sense. But, when I was 12 years old, I was in an English class and we were divided into groups and we were to read certain parts of Treasure Island. And my group was not really proactive, I was kind of carrying the group. And we had a final grade where we were all supposed to read this one section, and then we were supposed to put together a presentation. We were supposed to read it and then get together for part of the class period, and talk about how we were going to present this part that read. And I was the only one that had read it, and so they said, "Well then you just do it." Now you would tell them, "Forget it!" But, back then it was like, "Oh yeah, okay." So I literally I just stood up and I started telling it in story form, about Jim opening up the safe and finding the map. And as I was telling it, I just instinctively started adding. I could see it and I was adding some drama to it and such, and the entire class, and this is the middle school class in English class, 2 and they were with me. I could feel the entire class with me. And I remember thinking part way through, "This is cool!" And I was hooked from that moment on with storytelling. MK: How long have you been involved telling stories? LW: Telling them on a more official type of level, gosh, really since my college years. In college, I took a course on storytelling at the university and I loved it. Then I just started being invited to do little things and do little stories. And then really telling on a regular basis was after the last go I was married and I had children. And I just decided, "What is it that I really want to do?" And I realized it was storytelling. So I joined the local storytelling guild and started writing stories and finding stories and I contacted my children's elementary school librarian and we kind of knew each other already. And I said, "Would you like to have a storyteller come in?" I mean, I just figured this would be a good way to learn. And she was, "Yes! Sure!" So once a week, I would go in for a couple of hours and I would tell the same story and it would be for Kindergartners all the way up to fifth grade. So the story I would adjust to the audience and to their understanding. And it went really well and I learned a lot about storytelling during that time. It was a great learning experience because every week I'd have to come up with a new story and every week I would have different age groups. And I didn't realize really how unusual this type of experience was. But it turned out to be really a good experience. And I became a little bit of a local celebrity at the school. 3 MK: Did you do any sort of storytelling in an unofficial aspect between grade school and college? LW: Yes. I would make up stories. It was funny because it was like, "oh, Lynn, You tell the story!" And I would, you know, with friends and family and then it's like, "Okay, Lynn no more stories." So there was that and I had a book and in fact, it's scotch taped together from that college course and I really learned a lot from that book and I studied it a lot. It really wasn't until years later when I became a little bit in demand--and this was through the guild and through different contacts that I made-- And that I started actually taking workshops in storytelling and things like that. MK: What part of storytelling brings you the most joy and satisfaction? LW: Those moments when you have the audience. When they are with you and of course they experiencing the story in their own way. You know, they aren't seeing exactly what I'm seeing, but I'm doing my job. I'm seeing it, I'm hearing it, and I'm feeling it, the emotions and the drama and such. And I'm able to convey that. That's really when the audience is right there. And then after the storytelling when people come up to me afterwards, and they start relaying their stories. I don't think it is storytelling actually, I just think of it more as story sharing. You know, sharing their stories. MK: Which type of audience do you prefer? Children or adults? LW: When I saw that question, I thought, "I don't really know if I have a preference." MK: That’s also an answer. 4 LW: There are different types of audiences and depending on the age of the children, they can be very interactive and that's fun, or not. You can tell a story and they become part of it. But adults are fun too. They are just different types of stories. I tend to find stories that resonate within me. Whether they be a story from another source like a folktale or a fairytale or whatever source it might be. Then I have stories that I write and experience, or a thought will come to me and it’s like, "Oh! That could be a good story." But they always just resonate with me and they always tend to have some kind of little lesson. And the lessons with adults can be more subtle. I really try to avoid preaching, I let the story teach the lesson. MK: What are the qualities of a good storyteller? LW: It's kind of a mix of things. It's having stories that you believe in. Having stories that like I said, resonate. And then when on stage, having presence, being open. I'm very physical in my storytelling, my arms are all over the place. I'm teased about it all of the time with my family and friends. You know, "Don't get too close to Lynn she'll knock you out." And like I said, seeing it. Seeing the setting, seeing the characters, hearing them. Being present in the story as the teller is telling. That's really a key and it takes a lot of practice. Occasionally I've been in settings where we improve stories and you've got the audience. Or I'll start and then I'll stop a story and I'll say, "Now what was that person's name?" I do this particularly with children. And they'll say, "A mouse! A cricket!" …Whatever and so I let them help me tell the story, so there's that. But I'm prepared. I know the story. I know my time frame, I know the 5 audience. And that makes for good storytelling and it's a lot of rehearsal. It's not memorization, it's experiencing a story and knowing it well enough that you can experience the story. It's interesting as I prepare, as I rehearse, I learn new things about the story. It's like, "Oh yeah, that would be good there." Or, "Oh, wait a minute, that doesn't quite work." And you just kind of feel your way through it. By the time you get up on that stage, you know the story and you are confident. That's huge! And you connect with the audience. You look at the audience, you invite the audience in. It's not just talking at them, again, it's a sharing. But the sharing goes two ways, and when they are connected and when you are connected, then there's a synergy that happens and that's part of good storytelling. And those are exciting moments. Looking at what the storyteller's strengths are. I mean, there's tellers that use all sorts of things. There's tellers that use music, drums, song, and such. There are storytellers that use pantomime. I've seen storytellers who get up and they draw a picture of the character as they are telling the story of this character. I've seen magicians you know,[waving her arm like a wand] as he was telling. I remember he was talking about a sailboat and he was talking about these different things. And he had this--I don't know what it was--but it's a bunch of sticks and he had a way where he could just [uses arm motions] swing it and make it look like a sailboat. Then it would look like something else. I tend to use a lot of character voices. I have training dramatically so I use a lot of different voices and they are very natural. I don't force them. But when 6 I'm preparing, I will actually go in and listen to people from that area. So I have the dialect so I feel comfortable with it. And like I say, very physical, lots of physicality in my storytelling. So you look at what your strengths are and use those strengths and rely on those as well. So there's a lot of components that go into a good storyteller. MK: I like how unique they all are. LW: It is. It's a lot of fun. It makes it fun for the audience. MK: What elements are required for a good story? LW: For the story to work--this is going to sound very mundane--it should have a beginning, middle, and an end. Sometimes, usually with really beginner tellers, or they see a storyteller and then they want to tell their story and they really have no idea where to end. They are just kind of telling this thing and it just kind of goes on and on and then they take a left turn here, and then they kind of go under and over and through. But there really is no point to the story. And having a story, recognizing a purpose, a theme, a good story --you don't have to tell all of the details. You color it in with the characters and the caricatures and with your voice, and with your body, and with your eyes, and with the music. And that can make a strong story. The story, it just has a meaning and an end, but there's a purpose to it. And so when it's over, there's satisfaction to the story. I have found that when I force a story, or I have an idea and I'm trying to force it and it just isn't working, walk away from it. Don't try to force it. I mean sometimes I'm given 7 specific topics or specific stories that they want told, but, you tell it in your own way. And be true to the story, don't start making up a bunch of stuff to make it work. Be true to that story. But it's yours, so you tell it in your own way. MK: Do you think our current pandemic environment has an impact on the importance of storytelling? LW: Yeah, that was an interesting question. I've been thinking about that one. I think humans are storytelling creatures by nature. We communicate through stories, right from the beginning, you go to the Parinese caves and you see the cave drawings, and they tell stories. They were relaying information, the hunt was here, and they had their spears, so you can get this information about them. But they are telling a story. And even now, in our society we tell stories. "How was your day?" "Oh man, we came up on this, I don't know what stopped the traffic, but we came to a dead stop. It was like a parking lot in the middle of the freeway." That's a story that we are sharing about our day. So I think people not being able to be face-to-face, its deprived us of these stories. And then our society also, we deal in emojis, we do “lol” and so forth. Even then though, those are short little snippets, there's a story there. But it's important that we don't get removed from storytelling, because it is instinctively a part of us. So I think, going back to your question, I kind of gone by way of Duluth here to get to answer your question. Yes, I think it has impacted people. People who have others that they can share their stories with, whether it’s like you and I right now, 8 we actually get to see the full face. I think it's healthy, it's healthy for us, it reassures us, it gives us grounding, and when we are denied those moments, it's difficult. I think people find themselves more isolated and start spinning in their own thoughts, if that makes sense. And I'm not a psychiatrist or a social expert but I would suspect that that is the case. MK: I think that’s a good perspective on it. Where do you see storytelling in future? LW: It's always evolving in a way with our societies. And I can see it going in different ways where our society becomes overwhelmed with technology and shoves it aside. And I have seen that to an extent with people saying, "Oh you're a storyteller, do you tell bedtime stories to kids?" And they say it as childish thing, not realizing how innate it is in our DNA to tell stories. So that could be problem, if our society gets away from it. I'm hoping not. I'm hoping there's enough people who recognize telling stories and the importance of our stories. History has told them often, we get dates and things. But a lot of it is told in stories. And then we are able to get a clearer, a better idea from our perspectives at least. So my hope is that storytelling will continue. It's an artform and that it will continue, and that people won't shy away from it because it takes energy to tell stories. It takes energy to listen to stories, because we are experiencing the stories together and that takes a lot of energy. And if people just become where they just want to rely on and isolate themselves with technology. My answer to you is that I'm hopeful that storytelling will continue to be strong and it will strengthen. And at least the festival that Weber State holds 9 every year, that's a great vehicle to learn about storytelling and mold the idea of storytelling. And the power, it's a very powerful artform. If I'm doing my job as a storyteller, you are seeing it, hearing it, feeling it, and you are experiencing it. Stories are great learning tools because the story is something that you can hang facts and learning on. I remember a story from years ago someone was giving a talk and I remember he told this story and it was a great story. He was a good storyteller, and then he continued on with the message of his talk. And I can remember that talk, and I mean we are talking like twenty years ago. That's how it is, you know, think of the lessons you've learned and how powerful a well told story is and how it stays with you. It's a very powerful tool. So I hope people will continue to recognize it. MK: Going back to Weber State's Storytelling Festival, how long have you been involved with the Weber State Storytelling Festival? LW: I was trying to remember the first date. I moved out here fall of... it was either 2015 or 2016 and I've been involved with it every year since. I've told every year since. Including this year, online. MK: How was your experience doing it online? LW: You know, it was good. Telling online is different because you don't have an audience. When you have an audience whether it's just one person, you tell a story differently than when you have an audience of hundreds of people or more. Your larger when it's a bigger audience. You're not more present presentationally... well in a sense you are. You have a presence on the 10 stage. And you are really talking to everyone and you are looking. By the way, that's another part of a good storyteller, is look at your audience. You know, don't close your eyes, that's nice that you are having this moment with yourself, but you are having this moment with the audience. You want to engage them and you don't have that with online telling. So it's pulled back. I find myself during this year as I've been telling more and more online, that I pull back. It's more of a one-on-one. I'm telling you a story. And if I were telling that story to a classroom or to a few hundred people, I'd be telling it much larger--same story, but in a different way. MK: What are some of you favorite memories from the festival? LW: Oh gosh. Like I said, I'm really physical and I learned pantomime when I was in college and I enjoyed it. So occasionally, I will incorporate pantomime. Sometimes I'll just walk up to the mic and just pull the mic away and I do a little pantomime. And you know they are always kind of curious about it. Then when I'm done with it I'll just say, "And that's one way to tell a story with my body, now I'm going to tell you a story with my voice and my body." But, the first time I did that, there was a little two-year-old, a little toddler that was on the front row. And this wasn't making sense to him and he was climbing, and his mom was trying to keep him quiet because they were there to see his brother tell and all of these things. And he was just struggling. And she came up afterwards and she said, "When you were doing the pantomime, he was riveted. And he was swaying back and forth watching you. Absolutely 11 fascinated." And then he was more engaged afterward, that was a cool moment. I loved that. Then there's going to the schools, I mean I love telling on the stage, but when you go to the schools, that's a lot of fun. They have us tell in the morning on a stage, and we tell in different stages, and you have different ages. So I have kind of a portfolio of stories to tell depending on what age. Sometimes I'll watch the audience walk in and I'm going, "Okay, what I was planning here, isn't going to work. Okay, I'll do something else." Then afterwards in the afternoon we'd go and we are assigned to different schools to travel to and to tell. One day, I was telling in the Egyptian Theater in the morning and I told this story and there was a class, fortunately that was sitting towards the front rows. And the teacher was a very distinctive looking guy, and I could see him and as I was telling to the audience and I told this story. And then that afternoon, I traveled to a school, I told first to the younger children, and I had stories to them. But I was going to tell and share the same story that I had shared in the Egyptian Theater that morning with this school for the older kids at the school. But as they were walking in, I saw this very distinctive looking teacher and I realized, "Oh my goodness. They don't want to hear the same story twice." So I just kind of went through my catalogue of stories and selected one. But what was fun was, when I first stood up and said, "Where you guys at the Egyptian Theater when I told...." And they were going, "Yeah!" And they just loved being kind of spotlighted for a moment. And I had them, from then. I could of just stood there and went for the rest of the time, but I 12 had them because they were excited and they were very engaged. And that engaged the other classes as well that weren't there when I told in the morning. Then I told my story and it just was really a lot of fun because there was a lot of synergy between us. That's the fun thing about kids is that they really are engaged and excited about. When they catch the vision of storytelling, they are right there with you. MK: What advice would you give to future storytellers? LW: Go to storytelling festivals, watch the professionals, watch the regional people, find what really draws your interest. Watch what they do, listen to the stories and how they are constructed. Get on YouTube, there's lots of storytellers on YouTube and there's workshops. Join the local guild, just Google in, "Utah Storytelling Guild". We have a statewide guild and we have lots of chapters throughout. And we've been telling to each other, we've been having virtual meetings all year with one another. That gives you connections, you learn about storytelling opportunities. Do perhaps what I did. I created a storytelling opportunity by going to the local library and see if they would like a storyteller and such. And just tell, tell, tell. You know, when you can go to workshops and make connections with people and that's one thing the guild is really good for, making connections and getting to know people. Another thing you can do is enter contests, storytelling contests. I don't know if you realize this, but you are talking to the biggest female liar of the state of Utah. I came in third but I was the only female that placed. So I'm the biggest female liar. People get to know you and you get to know them. But, telling and 13 practicing and using your families and your children and your grandchildren. And realizing what the stories are like. It's a lot of fun. That's what I would recommend. MK: Okay, that's some good advice. And that is all of the questions that I had for you today, so thank you so much for your time. LW: Well thank you for allowing me to chat about storytelling. I love it. MK: Yeah, I can tell. I love your passion. LW: Thank you. ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW AGREEMENT This Interview Agreement is made and entered into this 26th day of March, 2021, by and between the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program (WSUSLOHP) and Lynn Wing, hereinafter called "Interviewee." Interviewee agrees to participate in a recorded interview, commencing on or about 12:30 PM on 27, March, 2021, with Marina Kenner. This Interview Agreement relates to any and all materials originating from the interview, namely the recording of the interview and any written materials, including but not limited to the transcript or other finding aids prepared from the recording. In consideration of the mutual covenants, conditions, and terms set forth below, the parties hereby agree as follows: 1. Interviewee irrevocably assigns to WSUSLOHP all his or her copyright, title and interest in and to the interview. 2. WSUSLOHP will have the right to use and disseminate the interview for research, educational, and other purposes, including print, present and future technologies, and digitization to provide internet access. 3. Interviewee acknowledges that he/she will receive no remuneration or compensation for either his/her participation in the interview or for the rights assigned hereunder. 4. WSUSLOHP agrees to honor any and all reasonable interviewee restrictions on the use of the interview, if any, for the time specified below, as follows: None. Interviewer and Interviewee have executed this Interview Agreement on the date first written above. Lynn Wing (Printed Name) (Signature) (Printed Name) INTERVIEWER Marina Kenner