Stacks of Story

“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”
-Joan Didion

There are far too many stories swirling around the Pfister to ever write them all.

Because I’m a firm believer that everyone’s life is worthy of reflection, that we all have beautiful stories to tell even when we can’t easily articulate them, I also know that there’s no possible way for me to capture every good story coming and going through this hotel.

For every charmed conversation I have—frothy with story, ideas, memory—a parade of potential stories has passed right in front of me. For every good story I capture, who knows how many got away?

So for a few months, I’ll be sharing this blog with other story-catchers. I’d like to introduce the Guest Narrator competition that will be happening this fall!

Beginning September 8 and for eight weeks total, the Milwaukee-based agency Bader Rutter will be sending one of their finest writers to act as a Guest Narrator each week. I’ll still be in my regular role as Narrator, posting twice a week. In addition to my posts, during these next few months Guest Narrators will also post to this blog every Friday morning.

At the end of the eight weeks, a creative panel will judge Guest Narrator posts on several categories, including best blog post, best title, and best photography.

If you happen to be in the hotel and notice a Guest Narrator, please feel free to spin them a story. They, like me, will be looking for all the pieces that make up your “one wild and precious life”: the mundane, tragic, thrilling, simple, beautiful, heartrending, quirky things that make your life yours, and make it more interesting than you likely know.

I’m so pleased to invite these Guest Narrators to add their voices onto this page. They will join me to stack some more notebooks onto the jumble of stories we’re archiving at the Pfister.

You can read the first Guest Narrator story this Friday!