Now I Know the World is Round

After writing numerous articles for magazines, newsletter, and journals, I am writing my first book about storytelling. For the past six years I have been telling stories, listening to stories, and playing music at the bedside of patients in hospital wards, hospice and palliative care centres and cancer support groups in Winnipeg. It has been a privilege to enter into the lives of those who are ill or dying, to hear their stories and those of their families and the staff who care for them

The book is called "Now I Know the World is Round" and is a small book of folktales, stories and some poems, with my personal experiences and ways I have used the material with patients, their families, and staff. Also included are stories told to me by patients. For these, where I cannot get permission, I have changed names and locations to preserve anonymity. I have already received permission to include many stories and conversations.

I am writing for my own satisfaction, to have something concrete to show, as storytelling and music are ephemeral activities, but so far I have received so much encouragement here in Winnipeg, that I have decided to investigate getting it published.

The Bear Claw Necklace

The story of Sitting Bull's bear claw necklace is a poignant, moving story of the great Sioux chief's struggles to remain in Canada after the defeat of Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The Northwest Mounted Police, the Hudson's Bay company, the Red River settlement families, and the Government of Canada all played a role in this oral retelling of an unfortunate period of our prairie history.