LANES

Brother Blue & Ruth Hill Award 2011

The Brother Blue and Ruth Hill Award was awarded to Robert Smyth, long-time member and one of the founders of Sharing the Fire and LANES. This award is named in honor of its two original recipients Brother Blue (a.k.a. Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill) and Ruth Hill. Both have long been recognized and honored as tireless in their promotion of storytelling and storytellers throughout the New England region.

Each year the LANES Board of Directors presents the award to one recipient in recognition of his or her extraordinary commitment and efforts to promote a broader understanding of the art of storytelling and the support of storytellers in the development of their art. It serves, as Brother Blue, has said, “To honor those who give their lives to storytelling to change the world.”

For a candidate to be considered for this award they must have demonstrated their dedication in creating and nurturing a strong storytelling community, be it by individual mentoring, guild or event venues or by fostering a greater public awareness of storytelling and its applications in all areas of society.

The award was presented to Robert on behalf of LANES by Elisa Pearmain. Here were some of the highlights of her story of Robert Smyth’s contribution to storytelling in the Northeast.

• Helped to launch the start of Storytellers in Concert the oldest adult series in the country in 1979.
• Supported the first Sharing the Fire in 1981, and was on the STF committee for many of the last 30 years. 
• Helped start The Three Apples Festival in 1984 he was on that board for most of its 18 years.
• Huge supporter of the Blue and Ruth storytelling series.
• In 1988 when Lesley College would no longer finance the storytelling center or the conference. A handful of people came together over multiple meetings and it was in this guy’s living room that LANES was formed.
• Published the first 5 Museletters, and to give an uncountable number of volunteer hours and donations publishing STF conference brochures, and the Northeast directory of storytellers for 20 years.
• His depth of his knowledge, love of stories and for bringing stories from many cultures with great sensitivity to our conferences, festivals through his publishing house.