Coloring Page Tuesday - Jack Tales!

     I'm declaring this week Unofficial Jack Tales Week at dulemba.com. I've been talking a lot about fun things that have returned to my life here in Edinburgh, and one of them is that wiley old Jack. I have a long history with Jack Tales, which you can read about HERE (scroll down to read from the beginning). Two of my picture books are Jack Tales. And the main character in A Bird on Water Street is named Jack in honor. Basically, good things seem to happen in my life when I follow that boy, and lo' - I've run into him again here in Scotland! So stay tuned this week for some fascinating insights into Jack Tales!
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my debut novel, A BIRD ON WATER STREET - winner of six literary awards. Click the cover to learn more!
     When the birds return to Water Street, will anyone be left to hear them sing? A miner's strike allows green and growing things to return to the Red Hills, but that same strike may force residents to seek new homes and livelihoods elsewhere. Follow the story of Jack Hicks as he struggles to hold onto everything he loves most.
     I create my coloring pages for teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents to enjoy for free with their children, but you can also purchase rights to an image for commercial use, please contact me. If you have questions about usage, please visit my Angel Policy page.

Smoky Mountain Jack Tales

This week we talked with Rex Stephenson about THE JACK TALE PLAYERS. Well, Lew Bolton also has a dramatic troupe now in their 29th performance season over in Gatlinburg, Tennessee - the Smoky Mountain Jack Tales Storytelling Theater. And Lew has a new collection of Jack Tales out. Click the image to learn more and watch on YouTube.

Interview with Rex Stephenson on The Jack Tale Players

I have something a little different for you today, dear readers - an interview with playwright Rex Stephenson!
     My friend Tina Hanlon is an Associate Professor of English at Ferrum College, occasional Lecturer at Hollins University, and expert on Appalachian Folklore with a concentration on Jack Tales. So it seemed appropriate to hand the reigns to her today as she interviews the creator of THE JACK TALE PLAYERS - a theatrical group performing Jack Tales since 1975, that just celebrated their 40th birthday! Enjoy!
The Jack Tale Players performing at Rooster Walk Festival in Virginia, 2012.
Tina: Did any experiences while you were growing up in Indiana influence you to become a playwright, actor, director, and teacher all rolled into one?
Rex: Luckily for me, I grew up with two grandfathers that were both wonderful storytellers and I could spend whole evenings listening to them recount tales of their youth.
      I wrote and directed my first show when I was in the 4th grade. It was a puppet play entitled, I think, “We Are All Here.” I’ve never forgotten the girl who improv’d instead of following my script. It was then I learned the value of being an autocratic director. I didn’t write another play until I was in college at Ball State University, where I imitated Rod Steiger’s style and wrote something about a Civil War soldier.

Tina: How did you get started dramatizing Jack Tales?
Rex: When my daughter Janice was in the 4th grade, she brought home a copy of Richard Chase’s Jack Tale book and wanted me to read it to her. I recognized the value of these stories and believed that Virginia children should be exposed to these stories of their culture. I went searching for scripts and could find none, so I wrote a grant to the Virginia Commission of the Arts to allow me to research and dramatize these wonderful stories in Virginia. I’ve been doing that since Dec. 11, 1975, performing with more than 400 college students and professional actors.
      Because Chase’s publisher was reticent about allowing me to adapt his tales, I searched the Library of Congress and then luckily, discovered the lost Virginia WPA files in Wise County, with 13,000 typed pages of southwestern Virginia folklore. Some of them are the same tales Chase collected and edited. These resources have allowed me to publish a number of scripts of Jack Tales that have enjoyed more than 3300 performances, all over the United States and in several other countries. Here is Rex Stephenson with Richard Chase when Chase visited Ferrum College as a consultant in the late 1970s.

And with one of his performers and Anne Chase, Richard Chase's daughter, performing at Hollins University in 2012 (which I attended).

Tina: Why did you start branching out to tales with girls as heroes?
  Rex: My colleague Tina Hanlon [YOU!] encouraged me to look at Appalachian tales with young girls as the driving force of the story. I first dramatized “Ashpet” (the mountain version of “Cinderella”) in 1998 and then later adapted “Mutsmag.” Both these tales were resounding successes with young audiences and teachers. They have been published together in a play about storytelling called Grandmother Tales. Another story in the same vein is “Catskins,” which utilized actors’ bodies for scenery in a way that surprised even me.
      I like these tales because a father of girls is always interested in strong female characters. You hope all your kids would turn out like Mutsmag, would stand up to people and make right decisions based on what they want out of life rather than what is expected of them.
Jack Tale Players performing “Mutsmag” in Rocky Mount, VA, in 2011, using story theatre method to depict two-headed giant talking while Mutsmag and her sisters sleep.
Tina: Why would Elizabeth’s new friends in Scotland be interested in the tales you dramatize? Where did these Appalachian folktales come from?
Rex: The Jack Tales, while truly American, trace their origins to the British Isles as well as the Grimm Brothers. Excellent examples of Scottish Jack Tales are found in Duncan Williamson’s books, such as Jack and the Devil's Purse. “Mutsmag” has roots in Scotland in tales known as “Maol a Chliobain” and “Molly Whuppie.”
Jack sees Death threatening the princess, in a televised production of "Soldier Jack," about 1980. Dean Gates, the student playing Death, won an Emmy for his makeup work for Star Trek later in his career. 
Tina: What is one of your most memorable experiences with dramatizing folktales?
Rex: When I first started to book the Jack Tales, many principals were reticent about having Appalachian folklore in their schools, saying that the children don’t need to see a bunch of hillbilly plays. So I had to prove to administrators that these wonderful stories of a young man taking on challenges, and through his quick wit and dumb luck always succeeding, had a value far beyond what they expected. We originally played shows in the round, seating children on the floor with four aisles for us to make our entrances and exits. In the first couple of shows, I noticed the children were so excited that they closed up our aisles in their enthusiasm to get close to the action. It was then that I knew I had a hit. After a Richmond reporter printed an article with the headline “Simple Jack Tales Educate,” I had no trouble booking shows.
Rex Stephenson with Summer Enrichment Camp kids acting out “Jack and the Hainted House,” Ferrum College, 2015.
Letter from a 4th grader who enjoyed the first Jack Tale show at Callaway Elementary School. (That child is now high school teacher Tammy Knick.)

Tina: What else have you written besides folktale dramatizations?
Rex: While I started scripting Jack Tales, I later wrote history plays and adapted many well-known classic novels for young people, including Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I have published 25 scripts that are available from Eldridge Plays and Musicals, Dramatic Publishing, and Leicester Bay Theatricals.

BIO:
      R. Rex Stephenson earned his Bachelor’s degree in middle and secondary education at Ball State University. Upon graduation, Stephenson taught at Bayshore Middle School in Florida and Redkey High School in Indiana. He received his M.A. from Indiana State University in theatre and later accepted a position as drama professor at Ferrum College in Virginia. In 1984, he received his Ph.D. in educational theatre at New York University. Stephenson has had 25 plays for children and adults published: The Jack Tales, The Liberated Cinderella, Treasure Island, Galileo: Man of Science, The Jungle Book, A Christmas Carol, Connecticut Yankee, and Glorious Son of York. Stephenson has been a winner in two major playwriting contests: The American Alliance for Theatre and Education 1995 for Too Free For Me (Published by Encore), and he was awarded the IUPUI National Youth Theatre Playwriting Competition “Excellence in Playwriting” for Jack’s Adventures with the King’s Girl. In 1996, he received an Appalachian College Association, “Faculty Research Fellowship,” to research and write The World is My Parish, a drama about the life of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Stephenson lives in Ferrum, Virginia and he has three daughters, Janice, Jessica, and Juliet.
      December 11th was the 40th anniversary of the Ferrum College Jack Tale Players’ first performance at Callaway Elementary School. From that day to this, Rex Stephenson (professor emeritus of drama) and over 400 students and professional actors have performed his adaptations of Appalachian folktales and songs several thousand times for audiences of all ages--around the mountains, across the country, and in England. In 8 nationwide USO tours they performed at 60 VA hospitals.
Photo of Jack Tale Players during one of their 8 nationwide USO tours to VA hospitals between 1978 and 1982, with Rex Stephenson on the floor in center.
Links and Contact Information:
The Jack Tales on Facebook
The Jack Tale Storytellers/Jack Tale Players web site
AppLit Bibliography of Dramas and Tales by Rex Stephenson Follow Rex Stephenson on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Jack Tales in Edinburgh

Have you read my history with Jack Tales? (If not, CLICK HERE and scroll down to read from the beginning.) I find it amazingly ironic that Jack has once again returned to my life here in Edinburgh. In fact, so many previous elements in my life have come back around here, it's getting downright bizarre - music, storytelling, and now Jack!
     For my MFA in Illustration here at the University of Edinburgh, I've created a thesis project for myself: Tricksters. I chose it because I really want to learn about all cultures and mythologies, but that is too tremendous a project for one lifetime. So, I narrowed it down to one character within each storytelling and cultural mythology to act as a window into each world - Tricksters. You know Tricksters - Loki, Coyote, Bre'r Rabbit, Robin Goodfellow, Anansi, etc. Every culture has one. Or so I thought.
     There seems to be some debate as to Scottish Tricksters. Some claim there is no Scottish Trickster! (And wow, that doesn't help my project along!) But some say Broonies are Tricksters. Others claim The Devil is the Scottish Trickster. And then some claim Jack.
     The first time someone mentioned Jack to me (without any prompting from me), I about fell over. He's in my life again! (And if you read my history linked above, you'll truly understand how bizarre that is.)
     But truly, one of Scotland's most famous storytellers, Duncan Williamson, was a Traveler and he told lots of Jack Tales. In fact, I just finished reading his Jack and the Devil's Purse, edited by Linda Williamson.
     I've also heard it said that Jack is simply a common name, a medieval derivation of "John" and therefore lots of cultures have Jack Tales under names such as Jacque, Jankin, Yannis, Jean, Jehan, Ivan, Jowan, Jan, etc. That may be true, but there does seem to be a structure to certain stories which are defined as Jack Tales. He is either lazy or industrious, but he usually ends up with what he wants through clever means - hence, the Trickster moniker.
     Needless to say, I need to learn more about this Scottish Jack. And considering that whenever I follow that boy, good things seem to come of it, I'm looking forward to my research!

The Challenge of Retelling Grimms' Fairy Tales

Go hither ye and read the amazing article by Philip Pullman (yes, THAT Philip Pullman, of The Dark Materials trilogy) in The Guardian: The Challenge of Retelling Grimm's Fairy Tales.
     It's to celebrate his new book, FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM (A New English Version), in which he has retold 50 Grimms' tales.
     Here's a most elegant quote:

"I believe that every story is attended by its own sprite, whose voice we embody when we tell the tale, and that we tell it more successfully if we approach the sprite with a certain degree of respect and courtesy."

     Just as I've been so fascinated by Jack Tales throughout my life, Mr. Pullman has obviously been fascinated with Grimms' Fairy Tales, their origins and evolution. Just as my new non-fiction manuscript (which I'm just starting to submit to publishing houses), "The Story of Jack: The Evolution of Storytelling via the Jack Tales," goes into the history of Jack Tales, Mr. Pullman delves into the history of the Grimms' Tales.
     I find the evolution of stories fascinating. Hence my recent research trip to Virginia and North Carolina to track down the origins of Jack Tales. I even have a manuscript (which I haven't sent to anybody because for years the publishing houses have said 'no folk tales') adapting a Jack Tale adaptation of the German "Bremen Town Musicians" which later became "Jack and the Highway Robbers," which I now tell as "Jack and the Big Bad Bull." So many of the stories we tell are evolved from stories told hundreds of years ago. As Mr. Pullman says,

There have been many, and there will be many more, versions of these tales that are brimful of their author's own dark obsessions, or brilliant personality, or political passions. The tales can stand it.

     I don't know why these stories hold my passion so strongly, or the passion of all society for that matter. Perhaps they ring true to us, remind us of home, remind us of being human. I find it ironic that the stories that have held us together for so long are, in our modern society, intended for children. Again, to quote Mr. Pullman, quoting the great pianist Artur Schnabel when talking about the sonatas of Mozart:

"they are too easy for children and too difficult for adults."

.

The Jack Tales and Storytelling... Part 3

So I told you WHY the Jack Tales in Part 1. And I told you about the Hollins University portion of my Jack Tales journey in Part 2. But my adventure wasn't over yet! For the next part of our journey we drove from Hollins University to Valle Crucis, North Carolina, right between Banner Elk and Boone. I used to ski on Sugar Mountain and Beech Mountain with my family as a kid, and I almost went to Appalachian State University (more of that full circle thing).
     But it is seriously in the boonies (in fact, I think that's where the term might have originated). Untouched by most of the ugly industry you find in cities - I had forgotten how green and verdant this area of the country is. It's all that fog in the mornings - Smokey Mountains indeed. It's not hurting for water like so much of the country and is just beautiful as a result.      We stayed at the lovely and historic Mast Farm Inn in the Elizabeth Gray Vining room. Recognize the name? She was the Newbery Award winner in 1943 for Adam of the Road. Apparently, she was a regular guest. How appropriate, eh?
     Across the road was the garden where the chef picked herbs for our country breakfast each morning and where we met the bees who produced the souvenirs we purchased.     And of course we had to visit the Mast General Store which has been there since 1883 and was THE store to many of the people I'm about to talk about.
     Behind it is the old school house (now a giftshop). I think this is where storyteller Orville Hicks' (Ray Hicks' nephew) went to school. Although after reading his biography, I'm pretty sure he hung out in the woods more than in this building. Wouldn't you if you had to hike all the way down a mountain to go to school, only to have the kids make fun of your overalls and your Elizabethan accent?      So, why did we go to Valle Crucis? National Treasure Storyteller Ray Hicks is no longer with us, but much of his family is, and several of them have carried on the storytelling tradition he exemplified (like Orville). Their homes are situated up winding roads all over the area.
     Stan and I went to meet Ted Hicks (Ray's son) in Banner Elk. He's not doing too well health-wise right now. Even so, he regaled us with jokes and wonderful stories including a Jack Tale of his own invention "Jack and the Octopus." From what we heard, he keeps the entire life center entertained! (Doesn't surprise me a bit.) He came into the storytelling tradition a little later in life, but now he's considered one of the true keepers of the Jack Tales. I'm so glad I got to meet him.      Afterwards, we had a lovely dinner at Vidalia in Boone - what a nice treat. Nowadays, Boone is a quaint (small) college town with charming galleries and excellent restaurants. Yes, it's in the boonies (there was very little internet access), but it's a gem and not only did we take full advantage - I highly recommend you visit!
     The next morning we headed up to "The Beech." You've probably seen images of the Hicks' family home as Bob Timberlake (yes, that Bob Timberlake) made them famous in his paintings Ray's Place and Ray's Moon. (Click the links to see his artwork of the Hicks' home.)
     Lynn Salsi tried to join us - but couldn't. Nor could Lisa Baldwin, but she did hook us up with Amy Michels - probably one of the best claw-hammer banjo players in the area and a subsistence farmer.
     In fact, Amy is a bit famous herself. A producer from the BBC joined us to scout out Amy's and Rosa's farms for an upcoming documentary, which didn't seem to phase Amy a bit.
     She is a dear friend to the Hickses, so we were thrilled to have her as escort. She even pulled out her banjo.      You know the classic tunes "Angel Band" and "I'll fly away," right? She also played one about a train (I need to find the title), which was Rosa's favorite. There's a drone to classic bluegrass singing. It sounds more like a bagpipe than what we're familiar with today and is positively haunting.
     Here's who I went all that way for... Rosa Hicks (Ray's widow). Although she tended to step back whenever the limelight was on her husband, Rosa is a singer and storyteller in her own right. You just have to catch her when she's not in the kitchen.      I also went to meet Leonard Hicks (another of Ray's sons). They're used to visitors at the Beech as scholars, film makers, and storytellers have been dropping by for decades. If you visit Ray Hicks' website, you'll see many, many photos taken on this very same front porch. This was just my turn.
     Here I am with Leonard and Rosa (and a man doing some work at the house).      Leonard is signing my copy of The Jack Tales. Rosa signed it too. Remember I showed you that treasure on Day 1 - well, look again... It's something else, isn't it?      The house was built by hand in the early 1800's, although the family lived on the land long before then. They didn't buy much as they could produce almost everything they needed. Water wasn't an issue. Here's the spring house.      Heat, however, was always a problem. Here's the old iron stove that sits dead center in the front room and for which all that wood on the front porch is for. (That and Rosa's wood-burning stove in the kitchen.)      Many a morning they awoke covered in snow (even with the roof over their heads). It would blow through the log walls and pile up on their quilts. But apparently snow is insulating and actually kept them warm. It speaks to the nature of their living conditions. There was no indoor plumbing, no electricity, no telephone, and certainly no internet! It was a tough existence.      Here's the garden that kept them from starving most of the time. While it produced food, Rosa and the children would put up (can) potatoes, string leather britches (green beans), shuck corn, pick berries, you name it. It had to feed them all year. Can you guess what they did while they were working so hard? Told stories - yup.
     Stan went with Leonard to pick some cabbage and potatoes for us to buy. (They sell much of their produce these days.) Have you ever picked a potato straight out of the ground? Rosa said 'taters' were her favorite food. I suppose if they were the only thing between you and starvation, they'd be yours too.
     Stan got a workout diggin' up 'taters' - here was the haul:      I tell you, there is something awe inspiring about meeting people who are still living our history. So many of us are caught up in our cities and technology, we can't imagine a time when stories by the fire were the only source of entertainment. A time when stories kept your hands working long after you were tired and ready to quit. A time when stories were as much a part of life as breathing.
     THAT is why this trip was so important and why I'm so glad we went. Of course, now the work begins to turn it all into a book. 100's of years and generations of storytellers telling Jack Tales. Think I can do it?

     On our way home, we stopped in Asheville, North Carolina and I'd be remiss not to mention Lauren Patton's ZaPow! gallery and Leslie Hawkins' Spellbound Children's Bookshop right in the heart of downtown. Lauren is an aspiring children's book creator and getting to see her was yet another fun connection on this voyage of connecting.
     So now we're back in the big city and we've certainly eaten well since our return... cream of potato and leek soup, cabbage and potato stew. With each bite I'm reminded how lucky I am with my modern conveniences, but also to have touched a world of stories and history that continues to add such value to my life.
     And I've noticed an interesting trend... Whenever I follow the path the Jack Tales put before me, good things tend to happen. I think I might follow that clever boy for a might bit longer.

The Jack Tales and Storytelling... Part 2

Yesterday I introduced you to a brief history of the Jack Tales and how they entered my life. Ever since my exit show in college, for which I created a line of posters for the National Storytelling Festival, I've been fascinated by Jack Tales. In fact, two of my picture books are Jack Tales: Paco and the Giant Chile Plant (based on Jack and the Beanstalk) and Soap, soap, soap (based on, you guessed it, Soap, soap, soap).      Mine are bilingual, and so the Jack Tales evolve again into a new culture and language. It's the natural evolution of stories and storytelling, and something that I like to demonstrate when I do my school visits.      I ask children to line up in a row in front of me. Each one is assigned a place along the evolution of Jack Tales, starting in England, traveling across the ocean to America, climbing into the Appalachian mountains, and finally ending up in the Chihuahuan desert where I placed Paco.
     And for all my years of doing this presentation, a thought has been nibbling at my brain... I want to write a non-fiction picture book about the evolution of storytelling via the Jack Tales. (It's a tad bit complicated, so I'm not worried about anybody stealing my idea - which is why I don't mind sharing it with you!) But we've already lost some key people in the story - Ray Hicks (storyteller) and Richard Chase (gatherer of The Jack Tales). Was I too late?
     I emailed Tina Hanlon, Associate Professor of English at Ferrum College, about my idea. Tina has become the documenter of Jack Tales whenever they are published in their various incarnations and had included Paco and the Giant Chile Plant in her records years ago. So we've emailed off and on for years.
     "Oh, I wish you could come up," she said. "The Jack Tale Players are putting on a performance (potentially their last season) and Anne Chase (Richard Chase's daughter) will be here to see it."
     Richard Chase's daughter? (The man who wrote the book I shared with you yesterday, The Jack Tales.) The Jack Tale Players? I had to go.
     I put together an itinerary by leaning on the help of Jack Tale scholars and enthusiasts such as: Lynn Salsi, who has probably written more on The Jack Tales and Ray Hicks than anybody; and Lisa Baldwin, who wrote her thesis on Ted Hicks, Ray Hicks' son, and happens to be an amazing bluegrass musician. Then, my hubbie (Stan) and I hopped in the car and headed for Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia (just up the road from Ferrum College) to see the last performance and meet Anne Chase.
     Are you noticing the circles here? Roanoke is right down the road from Lexington, where my grandparents lived when they gave me The Jack Tales way back in 1975. Rex Stephenson started The Jack Tale Players in 1975 too! Coincidences abound when we talk about the Jack Tales and how they've intersected my life.
     I have to tell you the Jack Tale Players are no slouches. They put on a tight show, which demands a good deal of audience imagination. For instance, two players stand together to create a hearth, or several bob up and down to indicate they are on a ship. It's amazing how easily your imagination accommodates. On top of that, many of them are accomplished musicians. Heck, the lead actress, Emily Rose Tucker, played piano, oboe, and sang. Several are branching out as bluegrass musicians in their own right - check out Cornbread and Butterbeans. The Jack Tale Players were simply amazing and absolutely captivating.
     This was a special performance for Anne as well - especially when they invited her onstage to be the Princess in Hardy Hard Head. (Rex is in the center and Anne on the right.) They also performed "Jack and the Robbers" (one of my faves) and "Ashpet."      I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and meeting Anne, who turned out to be a fireball of a gal - love her! And since Anne has picked up the storytelling tradition from her father, I had the pleasure of being part of a practice audience for her telling of "Whitebear Whittington" on Tuesday. (Here I am with Anne and Tina during a lunch book signing they set up for me.)      An unexpected wonderful ended up happening because of all this. Hollins University is home to the "Certificate in Children's Book Illustration" program headed up by one of my heroes, Ruth Sanderson (click her name to see her beautiful work). She's also a bud from my Picture Book Artists Association board. In fact, there was a whole slew of amazing children's book illustrators teaching there. Here I am, from the left, with Ashley Wolff, Wendy Watson, me, Lauren Mills, and Ruth (leaning in the back). Wowsa!!!      Between them, they have done hundreds of picture books. Even so, Ruth invited me to speak to the students in the program during one of their classes. I was so flattered. (Click to see the image larger - including Tina, Wendy, Lauren, and Ruth's amazing picture book collection - she took the photo.)      We had a fabulous time eating at Hollywood's, hanging out at Rose Hill (circa about 1907) watching "Willa" - a Davenport Film (a film company begun in... 1975, whose main goal is to save these stories in dramatic adaptations), and generally getting to know each other. I left with lots of new friends who I hope I will get to see again next summer as Ruth has invited me back for another talk.
     Truly, could my trip be any more amazing? Well, yes, considering this was only the first leg of my journey. More on Wednesday...

The Jack Tales and Storytelling... Part 1

I'm going to tell you a story which began back in 1975 - for me anyhow. My grandparents, who lived in Lexington, Virginia at the time, gave me a book called THE JACK TALES: FOLK TALES FROM THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS COLLECTED AND RETOLD BY RICHARD CHASE. (Remember that name - it's important.) I called my grandparents Gammeo and Pop-pop. After all, I was only eight years old. They dedicated the book to me.      Little did they know, that book would begin a lifelong interest that has never waned. But more on that soon...
     Have you heard of Jack Tales? You're probably familiar with Jack and the Beanstalk. The story was originally told in Europe, Ireland, Scotland and Germany. But then it got on a ship and sailed to America traveling with three families in particular - the Harmons, the Hicks, and the Wards - on that very next ship after the Mayflower. The three families headed up into the Appalachian mountains - Boone Mountain in North Carolina to be exact. One of them even traveled with Daniel Boone himself.
     It was a steep and rocky terrain and wasn't an easy place to live, so there weren't many outside influences on the families for many, many generations. As much as that turned their family tree into the shape of a wreath, it also preserved the culture they brought over from the old country, the skills and the dialects. Up there they spoke with an old Elizabethan drawl, saying "yu'uns" instead of "y'all," or "cloomb" instead of "climbed." They farmed their rocky land for potatoes and beans. They gathered herbs and greens like ginseng and galack (colt's foot). They put up corn and leather britches for the winters, and they told Jack Tales through it all.
     The stories evolved as each teller told them a little differently. Eventually Jack became a clever mountain boy, barefoot in overalls. He tricked the devil, robbers, and witches. And Jack and the Beanstalk became Jack and the Giants in which he fought multiple giants with multiple heads.
     Jack reentered my life in 1988. For my exit show in Graphic Design at the University of Georgia I had to present ten potential topics to my Professor. How could I have known he had a dear love of Jonesborough, Tennessee and their annual National Storytelling Festival? I ended up doing a line of posters on the festival - like "Monster Tales, Fairy Tales," and of course, "Jack Tales." There were a lot of rear ends in the project but I still got an A.
     To research the project, I attended the storytelling festival. There I heard Ray Hicks tell Jack Tales in his Elizabethan dialect that was so thick, I could barely understand him. But it was clear I was experiencing a great and special moment. Indeed, Ray Hicks was declared a National Treasure in 1983 for his telling and preservation of the Jack Tales.      I drew a portrait of him while he told, which I then asked him to sign. It took him a while, as I don't think he could write all that well. (His signature is the second one.) I keep it framed in my home and it's one of my dearest treasures.
     Sadly, Ray passed away a few years back. The oral storytelling tradition passed to his sons Ted and Leonard Hicks, and his nephew Orville Hicks...

     But now, I started this story with a book by Richard ("Dick") Chase. His story began in the early 1930's as a song catcher. In sharing his knowledge of folk songs, mainly gathered from Mrs. Jane Gentry by Cecil Sharp, a man by the name of Marshall Ward (remember the Wards?) spoke up and asked him if he knew about the Jack Tales. He didn't, but quickly remedied that!
     Richard Chase hiked up into the Appalachians and collected Jack Tales and Grandfather Tales passed down through Old Counce Harmon. To this day his books (like the one above) remain the primary written records of the Appalachian stories that Ray Hicks and his ancestors told.
     We also lost Dick a few years back, but his daughter Anne is still with us, although in her 80's. And this is when the stories enter my life once more...      More tomorrow.