Beyond the Briar Patch Format: Paperback

Lyn Ford, an African-American storyteller honored by her peers nationally retells traditional stories and folkways from her cultural heritage. In addition, she provides readers with insights and historic perspective of these tales by including notes and references to extensive resources regarding the folktales she tells and the history that brought them to us.

Lyn (Lynette) Ford grew up in the African-American tradition in Appalachia (in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio) during the 1960s and 1970s.  Her grandparents and parents practiced an ages-old oral storytelling tradition which they passed on to her.  A teacher for many years, Lyn has now been an oral performer, a travelling storyteller, for more than two decades.  In 2013 Lyn was named to the Circle of Excellence by the National Storytelling Network.  She speaks of her “Affrilachian” tradition at conferences, conventions, and storytelling festivals throughout the USA and internationally.  Her first book (Affrilachian Tales, Parkhurst Brothers Publishers, 2012) received the Anne Izard Storyteller’s Choice Award from the Westchester County Library System in New York state.