is coming to
ALABAMA in 2010
Updated 09/14/09 /
The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer
byMark Twain
ATTENTION ALL PARTICIPATING LIBRARIES:
The NEA must be given verbal credit at all The Big Read programs that you offer. The Statewide PR Committee will send more detailed information regarding credit for any grant bodies on all print PR / websites, etc. Also check regional grant information for more information on crediting NEA per grant requirements.
Read this before program: The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in Partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.
Performers, Presenters, and Possible Programs (in alphabetic order)
Mark Twain Specific:
Jim Aycock, presents a one-man show of Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain writings and quotes, in costume and character. The centerpiece of the program will be the reading of passages from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". The end will be a Q & A as Jim Aycock the actor and his involvement with Walt Disney’s production of “Tom and Huck” . 30-45 minutes total He charges $300 per 30-45 minutes performance, with no additional expense for area libraries. Contact: Phone 205/ 515-4346 or
Marvin Cole provides a performance called “An Evening with Mark Twain” A friend of a librarian in Tuscaloosa highly recommended this program. For more information: Marvin Cole, 165 Ridge Road, Candler, NC 28715 or Phone: 828/665-7674
Ted Dunagan, Georgia Author of the Year for his young adult novel, A Yellow Watermelon, the theme of racial segregation of the 1940s has been favorably compared to Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Mr. Dunagan has delighted school, library, and book club audiences in the year and a half since NewSouth published his book. He is eloquent on the topic of how Mark Twain influenced his life and work. Contact: Agent Lisa Harrison, Publicity Assistant, NewSouth Books, Phone: 334/ 834-3556 or E-Mail Address
“Riverboat” John Ferguson (Blountsville, AL) presents “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Riverboat John” a program of songs, stories, anecdotes, antics, quips, & readings based on the book Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Available for community concerts, theatres, K-12 school shows with study guides, colleges, library & museum lectures & after-dinner programs. For more information: or call 205/466-7438.
Block bookings are encouraged and prices are negotiable.
Alan Gribben is Professor of English at Auburn University Montgomery, and the author of Mark Twain's Library: A Reconstruction and numerous articles on Twain. Dr. Gribben offers the program Mark Twain on the Move: A Travel Reader which gathers the very best passages from all five of Mark Twain's travel narratives: Contact Dr. Gribben at 334/244/3405 or email
Helen Hemphill, author of The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones, Contact: 401 Oakleigh Hill, Nashville, TN 37215, Phone: 615/ 268-2131 or E-Mail Address (Agent: Julie Schoerke, Contact: Phone 615/ 476.1367 or E-Mail Address )
Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain in Mark Twain Tonight. DVDs of the performances are available through regular vendors. Great for movie night.
Dolores Hydock, Master storyteller and actress, Dead Cats and Spunk Water: Superstitions and Strange Logic in the Writing of Mark Twain. Summary: From Tom Sawyer to Adam in the Garden of Eden, Mark Twain’s characters often went beyond logic to make sense of an uncertain world. (high school/adult audiences).
$250 + mileage. For more information: or call 205/951-7757 or email
Mark Twain DVD Series by Ken Burns for PBS. Information on how to purchase a set:
Mark Twain Motivational Posters – add some flavor and humor to your library and community with these posters of Mark Twain himself and some of his wise sayings.
Darryl Revel, has provided Mark Twain impersonations since 1974, has a one-hour program for family audience with children as well as a longer 2-hour program with intermission. Revel offers libraries a 40% discount. Call 205/663-2980 in evening, teacher.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain – Adapted for the Stage by Lee
Eric Shackleford – script is available for production, adapted for as few as five
performers, play runs approximately 45 minutes. For all performance and other
rights contact – Lee Eric Shackleford, P.O. Box 55704, Birmingham, AL 35255
or call 205/ 290-7201. Check out the website at
Will Stutts (native from Florence, currently living in Philadelphia. Provided a one-man-show last summer to big crowds at the University of North Alabama. Nancy Sanford, Director at Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, has been in contact with Mr. Stutts and he is interested in Alabama’s BIG READ project. Check out his website at: or contact him at or 717/222-0698.
Joseph Trimble (Storyteller for all ages) Phone: 334/235-8225 or 334/263-4989 or email
. The Alabama Center for the Book has given Mr. Trimble a heads up about the statewide BIG READ program.
Robert Van Valkenburg, does impressions for groups like AARP, Golden Agers, church groups, etc. and has been highly recommended. For more information: Robert Van Valkenburg, 1320 County. Road 85, Prattville AL 36067.
Travis Vaughn, M.A. – “The Underbelly of the Gilded Age: Mark Twain and the Victorian Era”
Historian Travis Vaughn, M.A., will lead a discussion of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer involving instances that demonstrate problems in society that America was facing during the time the novel was written. Other topics will include intriguing discussion of American life that Mark Twain mentions in other works such as bawdy humor, drunkenness, and other sinful deeds. Program length: 1 hour lecture with Q&A to follow. $150 per engagement which includes mileage within 120 miles. Anything over that will be 40 cents per mile. Contact Travis Vaughn at or 205-394-1658.
Youth Magic Program: Larry Moore -- As a young boy, Tom Sawyer saw many sights and even experienced a real medicine show. These shows had comedy, magic, music and fun and even had the opportunity to see a modern day elixir and the chance to take home a bottle. The Magic Man's Suitcase Sideshow and Balloon Revue provides the same kind of experience. Contact: , or call 205/ 491-6312 for "moore" details.
Scholars:
Nancy Anderson, Associate Professor at Auburn, Contact: Phone 334/244-3389 or
E-Mail Address
Randy Cross, Professor at Calhoun Community College, Contact 256/ 306-2719 or E-mail Address
Alan Gribben, author of the introduction to the Special Alabama Edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Head of English Department at Auburn. Contact: 334/244-3405 or, E-Mail Address
Bert Hitchcock, Professor at Auburn, Contact: 334/ 844-9058 or E-Mail Address:
Dr. Harvey Jackson III, Jacksonville State University, Eminent Scholar in History
Jeffrey Melton (Ph.D., University of South Carolina) teaches American literature, and publishes on Mark Twain and travel literature. He has served as President of the Society for American Travel Writing. His book, Mark Twain, Travel Books and Tourism (2002), won the Elizabeth Agee Prize. He advises the English Club and the student collection, Filibuster, and organizes Poetica, literary readings for the AUM. Contact: Work:Phone 334/244-3882 or E-Mail Address
Chris Metres –English Professor and Current Director of the Fellows Program at Samford University. Contact Phone: 205/726-4203 or E-Mail Address
Don Noble, Associate Professor at Auburn, Retired, Contact: Phone 205/ 553-7000 or
E-Mail Address
Lee Shackelford (Scholar’s Panel) UAB Dept of Theater, ASC 225, 1530 3rd Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35294-1263. Phone: 205/934-3236.
Others:
Alabama Forestry Commission was established as a state agency in 1924, the mission of the Alabama Forestry Commission is three-fold: to Protect the Forests from all harmful agents; to Service and Help Landowners to carry out responsible forest management on their property, using professional technical assistance so as to benefit themselves, their land and society; and to Educate the General Public about the value of our forests in insuring both a healthy economy and environment. We do this in the most efficient and cost effective way possible. For more information:
Alabama Humanities Foundation -- as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, we strive to create and foster opportunities, through grants and AHF-conducted programs, for scholars and the public to interact and explore human values and meanings through the humanities. For more information: or call 205/558-3980. The Statewide BIG READ Committee has contacted AHF to let them know of the statewide effort and hopes that several programs can be offered in 2010 around the Tom Sawyer/Mark Twain theme.
Alabama Museum of Natural History -- Experience the natural diversity of Alabama through exhibits from the Age of Dinosaurs, the Coal Age, and the Ice Age. View extensive collections of geology, zoology, mineralogy, paleontology, ethnology, history, and photography. Explore the Alabama Museum of Natural History housed in historic Smith Hall, one of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in the region. See the Hodges meteorite, the only meteorite know to have struck a human. Located at the
University of Alabama, Box 870340, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0340. Phone: 205/348-7550
For more information:
American Village (Montevallo, AL) -- The Citizenship Trust was first chartered in 1995 as a public educational institution with a nationally pioneering mission. Whether you are involved in education, or whether you are an individual looking for a place to visit and learn, The American Village is a place you want to visit. For more information: or call 205/665-3535 or 1-877-811-1776
Auntie Litter, Inc. is dedicated to providing environmental education to the general public, particularly children. Features an activity book called “Not in the river with me…” about preventing river pollution. For more information: or call 205/879-3009
Cahaba River Society works to restore and protect the Cahaba River watershed and its rich diversity of life. For more information: or call 205/322-5326 (office)
Movie Licensing USA provides public performance licensing to show popular theatre box office feature films. Fee based on memberships and number of users. Call for estimate and to view lists of movies. Contact: Movie Licensing USA, 10795 Watson Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63127-1012. Phone toll-free: 1-888-267-2658.
National Speleological Society – List of Local Grottos
- Birmingham Grotto, PO Box 55102, Birmingham, AL 35255-5102,
- Central Alabama Grotto, NSS, 6890 Garrett Road, Gardendale, AL 35071-2029 or email
- Cullman Grotto, 123 County Road 250, Cullman, AL 35057,
- Gadsden Grotto, POB 2092, Gadsden, AL 35903, or email:
- Huntsville Grotto, POB 1702, Huntsville, AL 35807 or email
- Jackson County Grotto, 706 Garland Ferry Road, Scottsboro, AL 35768
Phone: 256/599-3584 or email - Montgomery Grotto, 128 Live Oaks Drive, Millbrook, AL 36054
Seasoned Performers senior adult theatre, founded in 1984, offers opportunities for participation in theatre to senior adults, brings live plays and dramatic readings to groups in community settings, and serves as a training base for senior adults wishing to expand their theatrical skills. (Birmingham area only) For more information: or call 205/978-5095.
Show Caves of Alabama – List of Caverns and Cave open to the Public
- Cathedral Caverns State Park, 637 Cave Rd, Woodville, AL 35776,
Phone: 256/728-8193
or email - DeSoto Caverns, 5181 DeSoto Caverns Pkwy, Childersburg, AL 35044
Phone: 1-800-933-2283, - Rickwood Caverns State Park, 370 Rickwood Park Rd, Warrior, AL 35180
Phone: 205/647-9692, - Russell Cave National Monument, 3729 County Rd 98, Bridgeport, AL 35740, Phone: 256/495-2672 or 256/495-9220,
- Sequoyah Caverns, 1438 County Road 731, Valley Head, AL 35989, Phone: 205/635-0024 or 1-800-843-5098
Information provided by the Statewide BIG READ Committee. Special thanks to:
Leslie West, Vestavia Hills and Holley Wesley, Emmet O'Neal Library
Please call or email if you have any ideas for programming to add to this list:
Leslie West 205/978-0155 or
Holley Wesley 205/445-1117 or
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Alabama BIG READ Performer’s List, 09/09