Young Searle-White

At the Ohio school, Searle-White created for an independent project a puppet named Siznik who happened to be a 13th-century wizard.At 19 he would join a puppet theater group where Siznik did the talking.

Young Searle-White had a love for storytelling, but he also had an admiration for the human mind.He studied for years at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., until his brain swelled with theories about psychology.Eventually he earned a doctorate and got a job as an associate professor of psychology at Allegheny College.

But all through schooling, his imagination continued to run wild.After his wife, Lisbet, gave birth to their children, Rachel and Emily, the stories flowed more than ever.

"What happened is when the kids were young I used to get lots of books ... you know there's a huge proportion of children's books with male characters.So what I found myself doing is having to change the gender of the characters as I read the book, which was fine until they (his daughters) learned to read," said Searle-White.

And so the "Adventures of Esmeralda" began.Emily and Rachel, who are now 12 and 13, helped pick the settings where the 8-year-old heroine would battle "The Evil Wizard."Searle-White improvised the rest.For three and half years the girls were entertained by Esmeralda's triumphs before bedtime or during long car trips.

Years later, 13 segments of these stories ended up on Searle-White's half-hour radio show on WQLN-Erie, which he did for a summer.

His legion of stories also took him on amazing adventures as he performed in Washington, D.C., Massachusetts and West Virginia along with local spots like the Academy Theatre, Meadville Council on the Arts, and Grace United Methodist and Unitarian Universalist churches of Meadville.

He has written many stories for church services and 33 of them have been compiled into a manuscript that he has sent free to hundreds of churches.

"Happily Ever After?Yeah Right!"is one such story.It deals with fear and was inspired, like many of his other stories, by events in his life.

"That one came right out of my family," said Searle-White, explaining that at that time one daughter was scared of fire and one was afraid of getting sick.

That story, along with six others, are on his locally produced compact disc, "Dad School and Other Stories."

Each of the tales works for more than just kids.
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"That's my hope for this - that adults will enjoy it enough that they won't get driven out of their mind by it," said Searle-White.

But even after making a CD and having two stories published, something was missing.So our hero began searching on the Internet for a bigger and better outlet for his work.

The pot of gold came in the form of the Creative Arts Institute's storytelling contest.

The gauntlet was laid down in the contest's theme - "Word Play Stories" - and Searle-White knew just how to meet the challenge with his story, "Letter Poker."

But there was a slight problem.The contest required him to submit a five-minute video of his story and "Letter Poker" was 15 minutes long!

With the help of Rachel, who operated the camera, Searle-White donned his poker hat, and though it pained him, he began slicing out subplot, tossing out characters along the way.He told the story again and again until only the bones remained.It was a shadow of the original story, but there it was - a five-minute "Letter Poker."

While Searle-White is thrilled with being named "Storyteller of the Year," he doesn't want to stop being a college professor.

He just hopes his stories will continue to contribute to the happiness of others.

"Contributing to the fun of the world is a good goal," he said.