In 2011, Tom's daughter, Miranda, served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Anchorage, AK. Unrelated to the work she was doing in a chronic care facility, she was invited to participate in a series called Arctic Entries, where people from Anchorage were asked to tell a personal story in front of an audience. Seven story tellers told seven-minute stories; a local band performed, and the money they raised from ticket sales went to a local non-profit organization. The idea for Arctic Entries originated in Baltimore.
10 years ago, Jessica Henkin and Laura Wexler founded the Baltimore Stoop Storytelling Series, and it has become a staple of the performance season here in Charm City ever since. Tonight, The Stoop will launch their 10th anniversary season with a collection of story tellers assembled under the rubric, Beginnings and Endings: Stories about birth and death, creation and destruction, sparks and flame-outs. The curators of these proceedings, Jessica Henkin and Laura Wexler, join Tom today in Studio A.