The Writer Behind the Myth

by Sharon Schnall

Amy Friedman knows myths. The author and columnist also knows fairy tales. As she sits in a Shaker Square coffee shop, Friedman comfortably lists themes and archetypes found in folk tales and how they crop up in most literature.

"It may be less important to think about whether or not something is a folktale, a myth, a fairytale or a legend…than to simply relax into the sense of magic that all these forms elicit," Friedman concludes.

Since 1991, Friedman, a 1970 Shaker Heights High School graduate, has adapted myths for the Universal Press Syndicate column "Tell Me a Story." Her column appears in more than 100 daily newspapers in countries around the world including China, Newfoundland and Saudi Arabia, and less exotic but familiar locales like Canton, Warren and New Philadelphia, Ohio.

To date, the Los Angeles resident has created more than 750 columns, wanting from the start to offer newspaper reading fare for children.

Friedman’s latest effort, a CD entitled Tell Me a Story: Timeless Folktales from Around the World (Friedman and Danzinger: 2006), brings to life eight of those columns. Each story is uniquely interpreted by professional actors.

Children and adults will enjoy the Cajun, classical, Caribbean, jazz and Klezmer music, scored by Laura Hall, and more familiar characters Anansi and the Selkie Bride, as well as a raccoon searching for fear and two frogs seeking new lands in Japan. The stories are entertaining, but offer underlying messages about serious themes, such as a parent who must leave home or how to remain fair in the face of greed.

Friedman anticipates creating nine more CDs. The next will concentrate on her favorite theme: justice. Folk tale and other narrative themes are universal, she says, and include friendship, family, courage, death and loss, finding wisdom, leadership, loneliness and "all the sins: greed, gluttony and selfishness."

As for her own childhood, Friedman does not recall reading fairy tales, but rather books based on myths, with story plots that "take you to never, never land." She loved Harold and The Purple Crayon and Dr. Seuss books, which draw from myth.

"I think Harold is Odysseus; he’s also King Arthur," Friedman says. "He’s like the character Lemminkainen in the Finnish epic myth The Kalevala, where the main character starts as a boy, and has different tools that take him to different worlds."

"The Cat in the Hat is a classic trickster character," she continues. "He is both fiend and trouble. He is the master of the disguise. Whether or not he [Dr. Seuss author Theodor Geisel] did it on purpose, one of the reasons these stories work, I think, is every one of those characters is from our earliest story urges."

Friedman provides scholarly analysis about a form most readers take for granted. Indeed, thoughtful research accompanies the development of her weekly column. Time and setting may change, but Friedman is careful that content accurately reflects the culture and historic era woven into each story she tells. That care, that obsession for accuracy, she credits to artist Jillian Gilliland, whose equally detailed works accompany Friedman’s columns and books, and now the CD.

The column has a loyal following. Grandparents write offering thanks that Friedman has adapted stories from their childhoods, ones that they can now read to their grandchildren. Other readers ask for explanations regarding the origins of a story.

"I hear from scholars," Friedman adds. "I hear from people who are really into one story. Some are correcting my content, sending in more information. The people who write are unbelievably passionate."

Friedman respects her young audience’s insight and maturity, even when faced with unpleasant, frightening or sad subject matter. The wicked stepmother, for example, may not be so wicked, but rather serve a useful purpose.

"What they’re [stepmothers] about is a breech in the family blood line, an internal turmoil," she explains. "That story line is relevant for a child suffering a loss and who has to cope with it."

The stories, she says, give children a source of strength, because they are internal tools for teaching them how to face life. If the stories are sweetened, they take away the child’s ability to learn about themselves and others and how to navigate the world.

"My understanding of myth and legend and folk tale and fairy tale is there is a through line which is throwing a difficulty at a character or a journey that must be taken by a character," Friedman says. "Folk tales and fairy tales rely on ‘fairy tale logic,’ certain magical moments. But, those represent inexplicable magic moments in real life, and those are the resolution."

Sharon Schnall is a writer living in Northeast Ohio. She began collecting Harold and The Purple Crayon books more than 25 years ago. Sharon can be reached at schnallwriting@yahoo.com.

Amy Friedman is a guest lecturer at Case Western Reserve University, teaching on memoir. She is scheduled to read at Playmatters toy stores on Sept. 24, 29, 30 and Oct. 1. Check stores for times and locations. She will speak and tell stories at other area schools, libraries and bookstores until Jan. 1, 2007. For more information, e-mail kellsmom@comcast.net or call 310-709-2484. Her CD is available at Playmatters or The Learned Owl bookstore in Hudson, or at www.mythsandtales.com.