A Graveyard Raconteur

Tomm Shoemaker

I've been getting ready for this my whole life.

My work life includes three phases. As a parish pastor, daily life was about being with people who were lonely, broken, often near death, and needing to know that they weren't going to forgotten. Next, I left religious trappings for life as a storyteller, traveling throughout Arizona, sharing stories from folk and mythic traditions that took on new life with every telling. Finally, life was a classroom at MCC, describing the world's religious traditions. Each centers on the memory and re-presentation of its central story: the Exodus, Siddhartha's quest, Muhammad's Night of Power, Jesus' death and resurrection. For each, telling that story brings it to life in the moment.

I'm Phoenix-born, but Mesa has been home most of my life. Many names in the cemeteries I explore are connected to people I have lived with, learned with, and worked with: forebears of cousins and colleagues. Each deserves to be remembered, but some seem to whisper in my ear, asking to be shared. This blog and its social media are just one step toward that.