After telling stories to audiences for more than 40 years, Bob Graham has penned a book to highlight the best of those tales.
Graham, 79, a Severn Township resident, gained a passion for storytelling as a child at his family cottage on Sparrow Lake after learning about a storyteller named Cecil from the Chippewas of Rama First Nation.
"In the early 1950s, I became aware of Cecil and was mesmerized by him and by his lifestyle, his heritage and his stories," Graham said. "In the early 1980s, long after he had passed away, by accident I told my first Cecil story using the themes that he had in his stories."
The themes Graham uses to articulate his stories include goodness, fairness, kindness, equality, and "love and respect for Mother Earth."
"I tell my stories at many different venues, and my audiences range in age from five to 95," he said. "I have now told my stories to live audiences from Newfoundland to Victoria, B.C."
Graham says it's important his stories don't infringe on Indigenous stories.
"I tend to use animals in the stories, but not all of them," he said.
He visited elementary schools to tell his story to children in the 1980s. Today, he finds himself touring local retirement homes.
"It's amazing, the attention that I get," he said. "My stories seem to bring back so many memories for people who have had experiences maybe on the water or nature."
While Graham had never considered putting his stories on paper, he was recently approached by a friend who was an editor with a degree in literature.
"She felt it was important to get the stories on paper. She offered to help me put a book together," he said.
The stories in his book, Cecil Stories, are written in simple form, like the way he tells them.
"The book is of extremely good quality," he said. "I'm really pleased."
Graham hopes his stories of true-life experiences using the themes of Cecil will help others.
"I hope it gives a feeling of goodness," he said. "People seem to become more relaxed and in tune with Mother Earth and nature through my stories."
Cecil Stories is available at Manticore Books and Bayview Wildwood Resort for $30.
