Storyteller Jackie Torrence Dies at 60

Storyteller Jackie Torrence, died Tuesday, November 30, at her home in Granite Quarry, North Carolina. She was 60 years old.

Although well-versed in traditional African American folklore and folktales, Jackie Torrence became a storyteller by chance. She was an assistant at the High Point, NC, library and started telling stories to keep peace among the children. As a result she was asked to tell a story at a community event, and continued to be asked to tell tales in the community, and continued telling tales in 47 states, Great Britain, New Zealand, Guam, Sweden, and Mexico.
She first appeared at the National Storytelling Festival in 1977 and quickly became a spokesperson for the storytelling movement and for the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling (NAPPS), forerunner to the National Storytelling Network.. She appeared frequently on television, with appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, and CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Kurault and co-hosted a Halloween special, The Teller and the Tale, with Sally Struthers. Steven Spielberg asked Torrence to tell stories to the top creative artists of his DreamWorks SKG.

Torrence produced nine recordings on several labels. In 1989, her work was recognized in I Dream a World, by Brian Lanker, a photographic essay about African-American women who have changed America. Her 1992 play Bluestory, related the history of blues music and was performed by Piedmont blues musicians John Cephas and Phil Wiggins. She authored two books, The Importance of Pot Liquor, and Jackie Tales: The Magic of Creating Stories and the Art of Telling Them.

[Obituary courtesy of the Folk Alliance].