School days are some of our most vivid because:
We allegedly grow up—at least fumble through puberty and into semi-adulthood—while going to school, searing core memories of first thrills and fleeting embarrassment into our brains.
We have the luxury (whether we appreciate it at the time) of spending entire days encouraged to learn—surrounded by adults catering to us in a mighty struggle to ignite our naive imaginations. This can work rather well when we’re nurtured by caring teachers and forgiving classmates.
Some random school scenes plucked from my brain:
Slipping on the ice in fourth grade and breaking off half of my front tooth.
Writing a report on the axolotl in elementary science class.
Helping to publish the “6th Grade News Flash” as my first newspaper job.
Swaying to Journey during a slow dance in junior high—a gangly batch of boys and girls gathered in one of our classmate’s basements.
Marching with the honor band in the Cotton Bowl parade in Texas.
Writing a senior thesis on the Woodstock music festival.
You get my drift. Any of us could fill months of Substack newsletters with these early memories—whether we’re talking the pre-K years or graduate school.
Because school days are such a meaningful and emotionally rich vein, I can’t help but think “Back to School” is the perfect theme for the return of live storytelling to Des Moines, with the debut of Tell It Like It Is: Iowa Storytellers Project on Sept. 9 at Hoyt Sherman Place.
As I wrote earlier this summer, it was nearly a decade ago when I helped launch the first incarnation of this live storytelling series in downtown Des Moines.
Now the tradition is nestling into a permanent home with Hoyt Sherman as its producer, in partnership with the Des Moines Register. What began as an outgrowth of storytelling overseen by Register journalists now is transitioning into an endeavor more deeply embedded in the community at large.
I signed on as one of five coaches for the first five “tellers” you’ll hear Tuesday because I believe this ritual offers the narrative equivalent of essential nutrients for our community. Filling the historic auditorium with 1,200 neighbors to remind ourselves of our shared humanity is something all of us desperately need at a time when endless screens and screeds spend every waking second trying to drive us apart.
What was true in 2015 remains true today about this series: The range of authentic human experience and emotion unleashed on stage is utterly life-affirming. And all it takes is one person behind a mic—no pyrotechnics or other manner of razzle dazzle.
Just consider the varied perspectives of these inaugural Iowa Storytellers:
Tim McCoy is director of violence intervention at Creative Visions in Des Moines and has a secret he’s ready to share.
Kim Lipshutz is a retired HR leader and consultant in West Des Moines whose new title you’ll learn through her story.
Sarah Scull is a journalist and educator from Creston—also a fellow member of our Iowa Writers’ Collaborative—who delivered one of my favorite lines during this week’s rehearsal: “Freedom without grounding is just falling.” (You’ll understand when you hear the context in her story.)
Quinn Whitaker is a high school English teacher and rabid fan of “The Simpsons” whose story may teach you a thing or two about a specific music genre that loomed large during his own childhood in the high school hallways.
Harry Smith is the legendary network broadcast journalist (not to mention this year’s honoree of the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism) who, in retirement, is teaching the second year of a class devoted to the virtues of curiosity at his alma mater, Central College in Pella. As a fellow journalist and Central alum, I’ve been blessed to get to know Harry—and I may be forever indebted to him for agreeing to let me coax and coach him onto this stage.
See what I mean about the night we have in store?
And this is just the opening chapter of what looks to be a promising new saga gradually written by scores of Iowan from all walks of life.
There may be remaining tickets for Tuesday’s “Back to School” show (for a thrifty $20 apiece).
I’ll see you there, gathered among neighbors for no other reason than to share true and deeply personal stories, where we try to understand each other a little bit better.
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
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