HTBAF – Trusting Your Instinct – May 2021

Friday, May 28th, 8pm

This is a hybrid event.
RSVP if you like to be there in person.
Or use the ZOOM link (Meeting ID: 830 8990 2128) for virtual participation.

Trusting Your Instinct

Storytellers will talk about a time they trusted someone for better or worse.

How to Build a Fire is a Storytelling series, now presented on a blended format: some storytellers and the hosts will be at Open Source Gallery, while the audience is invited to listen and interact on ZOOM. Our hosts are Jackie Reason and Lily White.

STORYTELLERS:

Nick Balaban is a musician/composer/singer-songwriter in Brooklyn, NY who plays piano and keyboards and writes all types of music. He loves jazz, blues, reggae and ska, funk, pop, rock, R&B and soul, country and whatever singer-songwriter music is, and has been super blessed to have gotten to play and work with a ton of seriously talented and soulful peoples, some of whom are famous, many of whom are not so much, including Ray Charles, David Murray, Culture, James Taylor, Duduka da Fonseca, Speedball Baby, The Imani Winds, The NYC Ska Orchestra and Robby Ameen. He has written and produced music for lots of childrens TV — Blue’s Clues, Bubble Guppies, Wordworld, GoNoodle and Peg & Cat. He’s on a bunch of recordings and his upcoming album of original songs, “Hello, Cruel World!” is due to be released in June of 2021! For a full bio and discography, check out his website, www.nickbalaban.com.

Sharon A. Pedro Dudley-Dickerson grew up in the illustrious neighborhood of Morgan Park, nestled on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois.
She is the third oldest of 17 children and fondly remembers a childhood filled with sports, music, and the arts. Her mom, Lorraine Pedro worked in medical records and her dad, Dr. Donald Pedro ran a neighborhood Medical practice for many years. She believes Morgan Park was the best place to grow up because it was a community where everyone looked out for each other. This was especially true during the great blizzard of 1967.
In her early career, Sharon became an insurance agent, worked in the medical field, and as a family caregiver was soon drawn to the field of social work. She continues to be a lifelong advocate assisting children with learning disabilities and families navigating the foster care system for most of her life.
Her practice centers around genomapping which investigates family systems, diseases, and disorders within families and how they impact the individual. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University, and dual Masters in Social Work and Public Affairs from Indiana University,  and pursued  a Ph. D in Christian Counseling.
The now-retired social worker, mother of two, grandmother to many, and new great grandmother has lived in Gary, Indiana for the last 36 years.

Writer/Musician Phyllis Capello is a NYFA fellow in fiction. Bordighera Press published her poetry collection, Packs Small Plays Big, in 2018. She’s a writer-in-residence with Community-Word Project, musician-in-residence with Adaptive Design Association and has entertained children & their families in hospitals since 1982 with the Big Apple Circus Clown Care team, and now with Healthy Humor.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead, anthropologist, (1901-1978)