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My wife, Beth, and I accompanied Wanda Johnson up to Selma last Sunday to attend Kathryn Windham’s Memorial service. It was one of the most memorable events I have ever attended. I found a article by another storytelling enthusiast, Jaine Treadwell, published in the Troy, AL newspaper that does a good job of recounting what transpired. RIP Kathryn Tucker Windham!

Service recalls a ‘life well lived’
Posted By Jaine Treadwell

Kathryn Tucker Windham didn’t want people making “a fuss” over her.

But, oh, what a fuss was made over her on Sunday.

And wouldn’t “Miss Kathryn” have loved to be there with all the stories being told, songs being sung, combs being played and the laughter being shared.

It was a celebration of life – the life of Kathryn Tucker Windham.

More than 500 people packed the Church Street United Methodist Church in Selma Sunday to celebrated the life of Kathryn Tucker Windham, Alabama’s supreme storyteller, author, photographer, and journalist, who died at her home on June 12, 2011 at the age of 93.

People came from all walks of life to celebrate the life of the legendary lady with the slow Southern drawl who was schooled on the Four L’s of life – learn, listen, laugh and love. They came from cities and rural hamlets. They came in suits and ties and tee shirts and sandals. They all came out of love for “Miss Kathryn.”

An hour of more before the service began, the church was filled with “story speak” as one after the other shared stories across pews about “Miss Kathryn.”

If there were any tears shed at the “celebration,” they were tears of laughter. And, that’s what Kathryn Windham’s life was about – sharing the stories and the laughter.

Donald Davis, storyteller and Windham’s close and longtime friend, was the featured speaker at the celebration. Davis said that Windham’s stories could have been of a different kind. She could have chosen to tell about the hardships of living through the Great Depression, about being widowed at age 36 with three young children to raise, about the struggles of making a place for herself in the world of journalism and about being on the school board in Selma when the schools were desegregated.

But she chose instead to talk about the happy times, about the laughter and the love, Davis said.

“Kathryn said that happiness is not a prize that we win,” Davis said. “Happiness is a decision that we make. A decision that she made. ‘She was twice blessed. She was happy and she knew it.’”

Davis spoke candidly and lovingly of his storyteller friend.

He told how they had discussed the inevitable and how Windham said that she didn’t want any kind of memorial service. However, she finally agreed to one if Davis would “do it.”

“Kathryn told me that she wanted me to wear exactly what I had on right then,” he said and stepped from behind the podium wearing a light blue seersucker suit, a bowtie and black and white, wingtip shoes. “She said this would go with her coffin.” (Windham was buried in an old time, six-sided pine coffin.)

Davis said that, prior to the service, he had listened as people talked about their affection for Windham and had to correct them several times.

“I would hear someone say that Kathryn Windham was one in a million,” Davis said. “We’ve got 307 million people in this county but we don’t have 307 Kathryn Tucker Windhams.”

Davis said Windham was one of a kind and she will live on through her stories and through the many lives that she has touched.

The Dill Pickers, the featured band at Windham’s annual Tale Tellin’ Festival in Selma, played several of Windham’s favorite songs and the church choir played, “When We All Get to Heaven” on combs and everyone raised the rafters with several selections, including Windham’s favorite, “I’ll Fly Away.”

Norton Dill closed the celebration with a story that brought into focus what Windham’s life was all about.

He told how, when Kathryn Tucker Windham was lowered to her final resting place, the ropes being used could not be pulled from beneath the coffin and how a man lowered himself into the six-foot grave to release them.

Then two ministers reached down into the grave and pulled him up.

Hands, black and white, clasped together.

What a final testimony to a great lady who brought so much happiness and togetherness to so many for so long.

Kathryn Tucker Windham was twice blessed.

She was happy. And she knew it.

Article taken from The Troy Messenger – http://www.troymessenger.com
URL to article: http://www.troymessenger.com/2011/06/27/service-recalls-a-%e2%80%98life-well-lived%e2%80%99/

StoryCollector.org and Gulf Coast Storytelling are saddened by the news of the passing of our hero: Kathryn Tucker Windham.

Kathryn was not only someone to be looked up to, but IS an inspiration to all of us who have heard her tell and talk and charm the pants off everyone.

She will be missed as a true treasure of the storytelling world and Alabama folklife.

Our deepest sympathies go out to her family and her millions of friends.   Peace be with you, Kathryn.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/06/alabama_storytelling_legend_ka.html

A warm round of applause for the 200 plus story-listeners who attended the 2011 “Winter” Gulf Coast Storytelling Festival. We are now calling the January concert “Winter” because I don’t think this will be the only festival for us this year.

If the response from the standing room only crowd is any indication, I think the Gulf Coast will step up to support this wonderful organization. That would make it possible to host many more events this year.

We also want to thank St. Lawrence Catholic Church for their generous donation of the venue. It was perfect, Thanks to Father Steve Williams!

Also, thanks to Gulf Coast Trikke for their sponsorship of the event.

We would love to hear from anyone and everyone who would like to help us as we form and mold this fledgling organization. We appreciate your support.

The 2011 Gulf Coast Storytelling Festival will take place on January 8^th at St. Lawrence, Fairhope

Sponsored by StoryCollector.org and Gulf Coast Trikke, the Gulf Coast Storytelling Festival is proud to present Wanda Johnson, the Gulf Coast’s Premier Storyteller, and Jo Graven, a storyteller extraordinaire, Sherryl Lynn Chavarria, author (and now) storyteller from the Caribbean nation of Belize, Fr. Jim Dane from St. Thomas by the Sea Parish, and others in a public storytelling concert in the St. Lawrence Room at St. Lawrence Catholic Church.

There will be a Saturday Night Storytelling Concert on January 8, 2011 at 7 pm. This concert is free and open to the public as well as to the St. Lawrence Parish. For more information, please e-mail us at storynomad@gmail.com or call 251-626-9997.

•••••  A note from Wanda Johnson, our featured storyteller…

I have six favorite words.  As I was growing up, whenever my Mama, Daddy, neighbors, relatives, friends and other significant adults in my life said my six favorite words, my heart beat with joy.  Today, when I say my six favorite words I can see in the eyes of some of my listeners, that they know what I discovered as a child.  They are magical words. Words that can take you on a journey; help you solve a mystery, teach you valuable life lessons and lead you to feel all kinds of human emotion.  I would like to begin with my six favorite words.   “Let me tell you a story”.

An Empty Box as retold by Wanda Johnson

This short story with a strong message begins with a man who chastised his 3- year- old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became irate when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.  Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father.  It was an empty box.
His exasperation caused him to yell at her, “Don’t you know that when you give someone a present, there’s supposed to be something inside it?”  The little girl looked up at him with tearful eyes and said, “Oh, Daddy, it is not empty. I blew kisses into the box.  All for you, Daddy, all for you.”  The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and begged for her forgiveness.
For years the man kept that gold box by his bed and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.
In a very real sense, each of us has our own golden vessels filled with precious possessions. These golden vessels are our family, community, and cultural stories.  My journey as a professional storyteller has been serendipitous, a gift of unexpected and valuable discovery. When my parents, neighbors, relatives, friends and other significant adults said my six favorite words, “Let me tell you a story” those were more than mire moments of child’s play, more than moments of entertainment.  Those were moments of instruction, shared values, and human connection.  I discovered that when we come together to listen to stories we honor and celebrate our humanity.

With this idea in mind I invite you to come and join the celebration of our humanity at the Gulf Coast Storytelling Festival on January 8, 2011 at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Fairhope, AL. ……..Wanda Johnson, featured storyteller

Storytelling involves two distinct experiences to be enjoyed. Where there is the ‘story teller’, there has to be a ‘story listener’. Closely patterned after the incredible, wonderful, visionary organization, Story Corps®, and in the spirit of archiving folklife in Alabama, Gulf Coast Storytelling (a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization) is now embarking on a journey that places emphasis on the collection of our community’s stories. Our mission is to respectfully honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. We accomplish this by providing access both to the StoryCollector interview process and to the content that emerges from these interviews. Also, trained in the tradition of the Alabama Folklife Association’s Community Scholars Institute, StoryCollector’s purpose is to promote knowledge and appreciation of Alabama folklife.