Shane Portman: "When I was a child..."

"When I was a child, I remember feeling very much like I do now: that the world is full of unanswered questions. Back then, when I was read bedtime stories and tucked in, I felt safe. And even excited about all the questions that lay in the dark. And I truly think we can get there again."

–Shane Portman, my college friend and the author of a new book called Allister Cromley's Fairweather Belle, Bedtime Stories for Grown Ups to Tell (a collection of stories that encourages grown ups to read aloud to each other)

Barbara Kingsolver: "All stories, they say..."

"All stories, they say, begin in one of two ways: 'A stranger came to town,' or else, 'I set out upon a journey.'" The rest is all just metaphor and simile.

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Robert Redford: "Storytellers broaden our minds..."

“Storytellers broaden our minds: engage, provoke, inspire, and ultimately, connect us.”

—Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute