Tama Lunceford, Storyteller
Tama Lunceford’s vivid imagination, expressive manner and colorful use of language touch the minds and hearts of listeners through stories. She tells all kinds of stories including folktales, fairy tales, Jack tales, tall tales, personal, historical, and hysterical stories. Tama has created collections of original stories one she calls Tom Tales; all tall tales based on stories she heard from her father, Tom and other she calls Bob Tales, stories collected from her husband Bob. Tama has also crafted a compilation of original stories she calls stories that simply need to be told. This anthology targets social issues and is focused on motivating change.
As a performing member of the Jonesborough Storytellers Guild (JSG), Tama can often be heard spreading stories from the stage of the International Storytelling Center during the Guild's Stories n More programs. Tama has served on the Executive Board of the Jonesborough Storytellers Guild and is a member of the National Storytelling Network. She served as a founding committee member of the Storytellers Relief Fund a charitable function of Artists Standing Strong Together focused on helping storytellers through the havoc of the Covid19 crisis. She earned a Master of Arts Degree in Communication Storytelling at East Tennessee State University in December of 2019 and taught Communication Studies for Walters State Community College in Morristown, TN as an adjunct professor during and after the pandemic. Tama has presented at conferences for both the Tennessee and Southern States Communication Associations. Tama presented her signature program "Silent Shadows: Unveiling the Grim Tapestry of Human Trafficking" at the 2024 National Storytelling Network conference in Seattle.
Tama grew up in a small town in Northern New York where there are still more cows than people. She graduated from Keuka College in the Finger Lakes region of New York with a Bachelors degree in Social Work and a had short career in community mental health. Tama moved into business and accounting landing in Detroit, Michigan where she met her husband. As their boys approached the teenage years, they choose to move to Whitesburg in beautiful East Tennessee. Tama, now a widow, lives in the music city, Nashville, Tennessee. Here she embraces new stories of urban life and spending time with her youngest grandchildren!
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