Lynn Salsi is a writer, teacher, playwright, speaker, and storyteller. She has a passion for history, folklore, Southern topics, and interviewing people who are eye-witnesses to history. She brings a unique point-of-view to every presentation.
Lynn presents programs for kindergarten through adult by bringing her award-winning books to life through storytelling and workshop formats. She also presents writing workshops for students and teachers.
Her programs are varied and fit main stage venues as well as a single classroom. Story drama is a speciality and includes audience participation, music, and storytelling. Her passion for storytelling is outstanding as she bring her books to life.
Sample Storytelling Programs:
Jack Tales – Program for children and adults can be adapted for appropriate age groups and for various time-limits
History of North Carolina in 45 Minutes – Humorous, yet factual, program for groups middle school and above
Appalachian Story Quilt – Includes story after story about how Appalachian people settled and lived from 1776 – 1960
Stories include Daniel Boone, the Hicks family who saved the Jack tales, the Great Depression, and post World-War II, when modern times reached the mountains. Best for eighth grade and over, but can be tailored for grades four – eight when based on the book Young Ray Hicks Learns the Jack Tales.
Tales of the Coast – Full of anecdotal and well-researched history of the Outer Banks with a focus on Carteret County (Ocracoke, Hatteras, and Portsmouth Island)
Awards and Honors
Lynn's books have been honored with the following awards:
- Mom's Choice Award
- Winner, American Library Association Notable Book Award
- North Carolina Historian of the Year – 2001
- Eight-time winner, Willie Parker Peace History book award
- Three-time winner, Paul Green Multi-media award for storytelling
- Winner, Bill Lee Magazine Writing Award
- Recipient, Central Piedmont Regional Artists Grant
- Member, North Carolina Humanities Council Speakers Forum
- Great Southeastern Book Festival
- Pulitzer nominee
Books
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Oral History: A Family’s Legacy Everyone who knows me knows I’m big on oral history. I like to hear people talk about their families, and I enjoy writing down what they say. Just today, a lady shared her experience as an eight year old student. A sudden hail storm came up when she was having class in a one room wooden schoolhouse. The wind was so strong, it blew the structure off its foundation and the school landed on the front door trapping the children inside. While hail pummeled, the sky was as dark as night and everything became chaotic. It was a fascinating story of survival by a young female teacher about seventeen years old and her twenty-two pupils. Personal histories are ...
Posted Aug 24, 2012, 7:34 PM by David Burkhart -
The Life and Times of Ray Hicks: Keeper of the Jack Tales Two reviewers have declared this book the Appalachian Angela's Ashes. When measured by angst, struggle and "being up again it," I can see that the story has a full degree of amazement. Many readers will feel empathy for the family that struggled against nature and will feel joy for their survival.Friends say, "Well, it's about time," because they know the book has been about seven years in the making. The University of Tennessee Press has done a stellar job on the design and editing. What a story it is! Ray Hicks, known as the last living traditional Jack tale teller in North America, lived his life within the stories passed down through generations of ancestors who settled ...
Posted Apr 23, 2013, 1:41 PM by David Burkhart -
If This Ain’t True, Grits Ain’t Groceries Glenn Bolick’s plan for the book was a tribute to his upbringing, and that it is. It’s full of fun. Appalachian fun, that is. He says people think he talks funny, because he shortens words when he speaks. He points out how everyone in his community spoke the same. Therefore, he captures the spirit of his life and times as well as that of his parents and grandparents. Readers will love the stories of his elementary school years and of his adventures taking dinner to his Daddy’s sawmill crew. Glenn and his siblings had many memorable times in the one-room school house built at the top of the ridge. None of the students were happy about ...
Posted Apr 23, 2013, 1:43 PM by David Burkhart
