50 Years...
Tips, tricks, inspiration, and encouragement for storytellers of all stripes
Greetings from Sarasota—
On Wednesday of this week, my parents hit quite the milestone… their 50th wedding anniversary! Half a dang century of commitment and love. Wow and wow. And wow.
If you bump into them, congratulate them heartily and wish them a bunch more years o’ bliss!
Their anniversary number is easy for me to remember because it’s one year more than my age. Yep. They had me quick. Married in June, and Jason-baby appeared the following April.
Apparently I was conceived in July.
In Oregon.
In a church…
I’ll let them tell that story, if they want to.
I might be alone in this, but every once in a while I’ll have a jolt. I’ll be talking with my folks and suddenly they shimmer and I’m not seeing them as my parents, but as people. Y’know, normal humans who met and dated and moved and had jobs and dreams. Who learned as they went and looked at me with ongoing wonder and bafflement.
I don’t know if there ever comes a time when a child is able to see their mom and dad fully much less solely as “Mary Lu and Bob.” Maybe it’s better not to, to subsist on those flashes of clarity. I know I can be a better son—and friend?—the more I understand them as fully rounded people who live their lives even when I’m not around to witness. Who have roles beyond “Jason’s mom and dad.” Who have adventures and triumphs and failures I’m not privy to.
If they were asked to tell the story of my childhood, how would it differ from my telling?
If I was asked to tell the story of their 50-year marriage, how would it differ from their telling?
And in those differences… what would we discover?
Empathy and humility. Space and grace. Vital for storytellers to understand, or at least grapple with. Because every character possesses multiple private and public lives.
Every character is observed while they think they are the only one observing.
Author/s event and book launch
The last several months I have been teaching a memoir class over at the Senior Friendship Center.
Every other week, I sat in the Center’s library and listened to incredible stories from lives jam-packed with love, humor, loss, discovery… all the flavors that season the human experience.
As is always the case in memoir classes, these students started out shy, then became mutually fascinated, and finally all fell in love with each other.
Nothing connects us more powerfully than our stories.
The culmination of this class is me using my little imprint, Ibis Books, to publish an anthology of their tales, and we are launching their collection—JOYFUL JOURNEYS: Stories and Memories of Lives Well-Lived—at an event on Thursday, June 19, at 5pm.
Our book launch is two-stepping with the Center’s incredible Joyful Journeys Author Series. Special guest Sandra Gurvis—she’s the author of 18 books and hundreds of articles—will be talking about her book Three Ringling Circus, which digs into the influence of the Ringling family on Sarasota.
Then some of my students will share short excerpts from their own joyful journeys.
And then we’ll all buy and autograph books while eating snacks and drinking wine!
This is a free event, just grab your reservation by smacking that purple button below.
100 Plays
In case you missed it, here’s the most recent episode of 100 PLAYS.
In this episode, I talk about the importance of lyrical analysis, how to balance a stage, and the costs of cutting a phone booth.
You can listen on the Substack App, and all episodes are also available on Apple or Spotify.
Or, if you want to put a face with a voice, you can watch the video version of this podcast over on YouTube.
The Page&Stage Podcast
The next episode of the PAGE&STAGE PODCAST will land in your inboxes on Monday.
Seth Gordon joins me to explore the power of imagination, empathy, and community in the evolving world of American theater. We discuss the post-pandemic landscape, the role of nonprofit theater, and insights from Seth’s upcoming book, Crossroads in the American Theater. Seth shares wisdom on new play development, teaching directing, and building meaningful audience connections. Packed with personal stories and hard-earned lessons, this episode offers inspiration and guidance for anyone passionate about the future of theater.
You can listen on the Substack App, and all episodes are also available on Apple or Spotify.
And if you want to put faces with voices, the video version will be available over on YouTube.
Thanks as always for reading, and have a great weekend!
Jason “Joyful Journeyer” Cannon