Sydney Lieberman (1944 – May 12, 2015) was a noted American storyteller who began performing professionally in 1982. He was born in Chicago. He was a frequent performer at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. In 2007, Lieberman became the first professional storyteller in the United States to make all tracks from his previously released 14 CDs and cassettes available as a free download from his website via a Creative commons license (by-nc-nd). He died after a stroke in Evanston, Illinois in 2015.

Commissions

Lieberman was known for his ability to write and tell the story behind historical events. He created performances commissioned by the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

(for the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

), Van Andel Museum Center, NASA, and Historic Philadelphia. ; Twelve Wheels on Mars In late 2003,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

and the International Storytelling Center commissioned Lieberman to tell the story of the Mars Exploration Mission. He interviewed the principal scientists and engineers involved in the project, and was present in 2004 at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

, California, to witness the historic landing. Lieberman's story introduces the people involved in the mission and depicts their emotions they felt as they built and sent two rovers on a seven-month, 40,000,000-mile trip to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

References

External links

Syd Lieberman's website

Syd Lieberman biography
at

August House August House is an independent children's book publisher established in 1978 and currently headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. August House principally focuses on publishing children's folktales, picture books, early-grade chapter books, and stor ...

Syd Lieberman - Telling your Family’s Stories. One hour audio interview on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Show
1944 births American male writers American storytellers 2015 deaths {{US-writer-stub