You may see her in the guise of Liberetta Lerich Green, a young African American girl who helped injured soldiers in Detroit during the Civil War. Or with Anansi, a spider puppet whose got the character of a trickster. Or she may be speaking as if she were Paul Bunyan.
Whatever the personality she may be putting on, Springfield Township resident Lois Sprengnether loves to tell a good story. In fact, she’s been doing it professionally for 20 years and has traveled locally, nationally and internationally to do so.
“As a youngster, I was always the kid who got in trouble when the teacher came back in to the room because they could hear me in the hall. I had one teacher say, ‘Lois, why is it I always hear you over everybody else?’ And I said, ‘Just lucky I guess,’” Sprengnether laughed. “Kids that get in trouble for talking may have a potential for storytelling.”
Growing up in St. Louis, Mo., Sprengnether began her career in theatre and dance. She studied acting at Royal Academy under Larry Linville, a.k.a Major Burns on the popular television show M.A.S.H. She worked for the Actor’s Workshop, directed a children’s touring company, and toured with the “In White America” theatre group.
She made a career change and found life after theatre as a children’s librarian in 1970.
“It was very compatible. Being a children’s librarian lets me use all of those skills and everything else. I just kind of flowed into it.”
Sprengnether is currently with the Mt. Clemens Public Library, where she has been employed since 1979.
A certified Word Weaving instructor, a nationally recognized story telling method, Sprengnether tells her stories wherever there is an audience. She’s told at churches, art fairs, festivals, parks and recreation departments, conferences and workshops, libraries, schools, and more.
The 57-year-old’s stories span from tall tales to Native American legends to original works to whatever is requested of her, on any subject.
Her repertoire of stories is vast. For example, she said, “I could do a story on just about any country.”
Sprengnether sometimes intersperses her stories with music (she plays the piano, bowed psaltery, ocarina and guitar), puppetry, and sign language (her eldest daughter, Christy, is hearing impaired). She prefers, though, to simply tell a story. She always encourages audience participation, though.
Most importantly, she tells her stories to all ages.
“I love telling to adults,” she said, who has a local history program for middle school age to adult through the Flint Area Storytellers.
But of course, kids love Spengnether. “I’ve had teachers come up to me after doing a program in school and they’re amazed because a kid who may have Attention Deficit Disorder and can’t pay attention to anything else, paid attention. We don’t have that live presence telling you a story often enough. It’s just T.V., movies…nothing alive, that’s right there.”
Telling stories is life to Sprengnether, who’d like to retire from the library in three years and travel with her stories full time.
“You can fit just about anything in to a story. You may have to do some looking, but that appeals to the researcher in me. It’s just so fascinating. I’m an evangelist of storytelling, spreading the gospel of how neat storytelling can be.”
To schedule a program, call Sprengnether at (248) 625-5848, write her at 5640 Farley Rd., Clarkston, MI 48346, or e-mail at Loissez@earthlink.net. Also, visit www.lois-sez.com.