Saint Louis Story Stitchers is pleased to announce that Master Storyteller Bobby Norfolk will be joining the Collective for the Pick the City UP Tour at Tillie’s Corner Historical Project in JeffvanderLou!
Mr. Norfolk’s performance is sponsored by the St. Louis Storytelling Festival and the Community Arts Program of the University of Missouri Extension, funded in part through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
SAT July 8, 2017
Tillie’s Corner Historical Project Neighborhood Block Party
1:00-3:00 at 1353 N Garrison Ave 63106
Story Stitchers Live Performances at 1:30 and 2:30
Free, family-friendly, open to the public.
Bobby Norfolk grew up a shy child in North St. Louis with a debilitating stutter. Son of an elevator operator and confectionery clerk, Norfolk’s future was hazy when he was young. As a youth, Bobby wondered “What could a lost, lonely, discouraged kid from the low-rent blocks of St. Louis do with the rest of his life?”
Norfolk’s path toward storytelling and success began in 1961 when he suddenly overcame his stutter when performing in a fourth-grade poetry recital. From that moment, his teachers helped him to grow as both an individual and a performer.
Bobby began his career as a stand-up comedian in 1975 at local St. Louis comedy clubs and as an actor with The St. Louis Black Repertory Co. Concurrently, he worked ten years at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis as a National Park Service Ranger. In 1979, Bobby made his first appearance as a storyteller at the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, and discovered that through storytelling he was able to combine his theatre and stand-up comedy background to become a “story-performer.”
In television, Bobby won three Emmy awards as the host of the CBS TV show “Gator Tales” and also hosted the Emmy nominated series “Children’s Theater at Bobby’s House.” Both shows were based out of St. Louis and the themes were character education, literacy, and storytelling.
In October 2009, Bobby was given the national Circle of Excellence Oracle Award, an honor presented by the National Storytelling Network, which recognizes the very best storytellers in the nation. This prestigious award is given to artists for exceptional commitment and exemplary contributions to the art of storytelling, who set the standard of excellence in their craft.
Bobby has created over ten CD’s, many having won the prestigious Parents Choice Gold Award. He has co-authored eight children’s books, and won first prize from Foreword Magazine in the Spoken Word category with his Dunbar Outloud CD. His bookThe Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development is a popular reference handbook for using story in the classroom. He is also contributing author in Writer’s Choice, McGraw-Hill/Glencoe Press 1999; The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across The Curriculum, 2006 Libraries Unlimited; Social Studies In The Storytelling Classroom, Libraries Unlimited/ABC Clio-2011; and Literacy Development in the Storytelling Classroom, Libraries Unlimited (2009.)
Bobby travels both nationally and internationally presenting performances, keynotes, and workshops. A past member of the Board of Directors for the National Storytelling Network, he currently serves on the St. Louis Storytelling Festival Advisory Council and is a featured artist in festivals word-wide. He founded Folktale Productions, a storytelling company started in 1987. His web site is www.bobbynorfolk.com.
Between 1:00 and 3:00 health care resources at Tillie’s Corner include Brightside St. Louis, Camp Sun Splash, Clergy of the JVL and other Neighborhoods, City of St. Louis, Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) Art Bus, Custom Xpressions TM, Dunbar Elementary School and Other Educators, Frederick A. Douglass Museum of African-American Vernacular Images, Fresh Starts Community Garden, Habitat for Humanity, Historic Miss Tillie’s Corner Community Garden, Hopscotch Communications, HOSCO Foods USA, JeffVanderLou Whole New Area II Neighborhood Development Association, MetroMarket Food Bus, Ministry of Wellness, Inc., Primerica Insurance, Ready Readers, Smooth Light Productions, Solidarity St. Louis, St. Louis Fire Department, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department with Operation Polar Cops Ice Cream Truck, St. Louis Safety Group, St. Paul Saturdays, The SPOT (Supporting Positive Opportunities with Teens) Mobile Unit, United Way, Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice, Contraceptive Choice Center with Wash U School of Medicine (C3), and more.
For more on the Pick the City UP Tour visit: LIVE SHO’S
Special thanks to the Pick the City UP Tour Sponsors —
Arts and Education Council Monsanto Creative Impact Grant, Kranzberg Arts Foundation, Department of Health of the City of St. Louis, Rome West Realty, LLC, Gun Violence Initiative at the Institute for Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis, Steward Family Foundation, St. Louis Fringe Fest, Civic Engagement Fund grant from the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University in St. Louis, Yvette and John Dubinsky Family Foundation, and generous individuals.
