And So It Begins

Well, now.  

I’m retired after 35 as producing artistic director of the Springer Opera House. So this is me turning the page into the next chapter of my life. This website will consolidate all of my acting, directing, writing and consulting activities as well as an amorphous blob we might call “other.”  

I’m not really cut our for leisure but I’m going to do my best to focus on family, friends, study, travel and intellectual pursuits that excite and inspire me.  Some of that will be theatrical, I’m sure, but I expect much of it will include writing, reading and sharing all the things I learned over 47 years in show business with organizations, students and the public at-large. 

I like people who are working to make the world smarter, kinder and more innovative so you’ll probably find me around those folks.

In November and December, I performed as a guest artist at the wonderful Ocala Civic Theatre in Florida and I’m returning to a long-time side-gig of mine - consulting.  Consulting sound boring, doesn’t it? Well, the fact is, by the time an organization contacts me, they are at a turning point in the life of their institution and that puts me on the front lines of change.  And that’s where I love to be. 

Over the years, I’ve mixed it up with a lot of non-profit arts institutions, their boards and staff and I enjoy helping non-profits with their visioning, fundraising, strategic planning, crisis management, board development, program development and my greatest passion - audience building.

I’ve always felt that my life and career would be an utter flop if audiences aren’t bigger on the day they finally chuck me in the grave than the day I started this journey. Audiences MUST grow and I’ve learned a few things about how to make that happen.

For several years, I’ve been urged to turn some of my stories into film screenplays so lately I’ve  started to educate myself on screenwriting. I recently participated in a fabulous five-part webinar conducted by Hulu, Netflix and HBO screenwriter Natalia Temesgen. I highly recommend it.

Another deep interest is my growing relationship with friends, artists, writers and tribal leaders of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. In February, I’ll be making my fifth trip to the Muscogee Nation reservation in Oklahoma to attend the renewal of wedding vows of my friends, sovereignty attorney and playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle and Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri, Muscogee Nation Ambassador to the United States.  My granddaughter, Zoe and grandson, Cadence have accompanied me on two of my trips to the Muscogee Nation because I feel strongly that younger generations must carry into the future the knowledge of the crime against humanity committed against the original citizens of the Southeast. But more importantly, I’m counting on them to tell the world that the Muscogee people have not only survived but are thriving in the Western land to which they were forcefully removed in the 1930’s. All of us are beneficiaries of this genocide so we have a debt to pay to these creative, funny, innovative, interesting people whose words we utter every day.

Today, I participated in a Zoom with Muscogee artist and curator Carly Treece and the Bo Bartlett Center’s Michael McFalls and Julie Umberger to explore an opportunity to create a Muscogee Art Show at the gallery. We envision a small show next year followed by a larger show in the next two or three years.  These shows will include a mix of traditional and contemporary Muscogee art and feature artist talks with the public. Next month, I will visit the Mvskoke Waters Gallery in Tulsa and see what Carly and her colleagues have created at this new gallery owned and operated by the Muscogee Nation. I’m excited about the opportunities to build a meaningful, creative and enduring relationship with the people whose ancestors walked these paths for fifteen thousand years.

Finally, I’ve published the Collector’s Edition of THE SPRINGER GHOST BOOK this month with seven new stories and color photographs. I published the First Edition in 2003 and it went out of print about ten years ago.  Capturing this quirky aspect of Springer Opera House history has been an ongoing obsession of mine and I’m thrilled to finally pull together what I fully expect to be my last word on ghosts. The book is for sale on this website. It is an 8” x 8” hard-cover book with a beautiful full-color dust jacket.  My brilliant granddaughter, Zoe Helke-Pierce, did all of the graphic design on the book.

Since I’m still haunting the Springer working on various projects large and small, I’ve changed my Instagram handle to springerghost because, let’s face it, that is my destiny. 

To quote the Dalai Lama of Tibet, “Be kind whenever possible. It’s always possible.”