The man in the ill-fitting suit

To the editor:

The weekend of April 4 brought to Cape Girardeau several accomplished storytellers to kick off our storytelling festival. The foresight of Chuck Martin and Joel Rhodes to find first-rate talent to invest in the first-ever storytelling festival certainly paid dividends. Thanks to the many sponsors and volunteers that it takes to make one of these events successful.

My wife and friends attended the festival. The storytelling was astounding. Each teller brought his or her talent to bear on the audience with different levels of skill, but the four headliners presented their stories with such care and ease that it was clear why they had accumulated reputations for being good at their craft.

Donald Davis made mention of his description provided in a Southeast Missourian article. This man in "an ill-fitting suit" had his audience in tears -- from laughter. His description of life events like having his tonsils out and first time he ever drank too much alternated between tugging on your heart strings and gasping for breath from laughing so hard. I know that Davis will not be here next year, but I do hope that some of the talent for the 2009 storytelling festival will also be wearing "an ill-fitting suit."

PAUL NENNINGER, Cape Girardeau