Stansfield, John 1947-
(John H. Stansfield, Jr.)

PERSONAL:

Born July 14, 1947, in Worcester, MA; son of John H., Sr. (an insurance underwriter) and Sally (a social worker) Stansfield; married Carol Wood (an elementary educator), December 29, 1982. Education: College of the Holy Cross, A.B., 1969; Emory University, M.A.T., 1970. Hobbies and other interests: Hiking, skiing, nature study, baseball.

ADDRESSES:

Office—P.O. Box 588, Monument, CO 80132. E-mail—jorcstan@juno.com.

CAREER:

Elementary educator, Colorado Springs, CO, 1970-79; professional storyteller and writer, Monument, CO, 1979—. University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, adjunct faculty, 1984—; Rocky Mountain Storytelling Festival, founder and director, 1989—; Performing Arts for Youth Organization, artistic director, 1992-94; Central Colorado Wilderness Coalition, founder and coordinator; founding board member of Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado and Children's Literacy Center of Colorado Springs.

MEMBER:

International Reading Association (member of Colorado council), National Storytelling Network, Sierra Club (member of executive committee, Pikes Peak Group, 1974—).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Colorado Authors League Award, 2002, for Writers of the American West: Multi-cultural Learning Encounters; Environmental Heroes Award, Wilderness Society, 2004; Dodge Award for Environmental Accomplishments, William Jackson Palmer Land Trust, 2005.

WRITINGS:

Writers of the American West: Multicultural Learning Encounters, Teacher Ideas Press (Greenwood Village, CO), 2002.

Enos Mills, Rocky Mountain Naturalist, Filter Press (Palmer Lake, CO), 2005.

Interpretive writer for audio presentations and exhibits for Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways. Work represented in anthologies, including Many Voices: True Tales from America's Past, National Storytelling Press (Jonesborough, TN), 1995. Contributor to periodicals, including Storytelling.

SIDELIGHTS:

John Stansfield told CA: "Joseph Wood Krutch said, 'There is all the difference in the world between looking at something and living with it.' His words ring true to me as a writer. Writers have to spend time to get inside their subject before they can write about it effectively. Sometimes the 'getting to know you' process takes years and lots of patient research. Sometimes a writer with a deadline must move at light speed to learn all the important data. Either way, the person or place, emotion or experience to be written about lives inside the writer, in waking hours and even in dreams, until the writing down begins."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kliatt, November, 2002, Anthony J. Pucci, review of Writers of the American West: Multicultural Learning Encounters, p. 28.