The short blurb and full-page press release below can be used for publicity purposes. Syd can also create blurbs for specific shows.
Syd is an internationally acclaimed storyteller, an author, and an award-winning teacher. Many of his best-loved stories deal with growing up and raising a family in Chicago. He is also known for his original historical pieces and his signature versions of Jewish and literary tales. Syd's work has garnered awards from ALA, Parent's Choice, and Storytelling World. He has taught storytelling at the Kennedy Center and Disney World, and received commissions from NASA; the Smithsonian Institution; Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Historic Philadelphia; and the Van Andel Museum Center.
Syd is an internationally acclaimed storyteller, an award-winning teacher, and an author. He has appeared at major storytelling festivals across the country, including eight featured appearances at the National Festival in Jonesborough, TN; at the Glistening Waters Festival in New Zealand; and on American Public Radio's Good Evening as a guest storyteller and host.
In 2002, Syd was featured in The Call of Story, a storytelling video special. That same year, the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. asked Syd to present his original story One Righteous Man: The Story of Raoul Wallenberg, as part of their Acts of Courage series. He created The Dead Sea Scrolls: Pieces of an Ancient Puzzle, for the Van Andel Museum Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These stories were used in conjunction with their 2003 exhibit of the scrolls. In 2004 he finished Twelve Wheels on Mars, a commission from NASA and the International Storytelling Center to create a story about the rover landings on the red planet. In 2005, Syd and his wife Adrienne collaborated on The Summer of Treason: Philadelphia 1776, a story about the signing of the Declaration of Independence commissioned by Historic Philadelphia. This past spring Syd told this story as a keynote speech at Missouri State University's Public Affairs Conference.
Syd has worked extensively with the Smithsonian Institution. He was featured in their Word of Mouth program for educators and returned to be part of a performance series, The Renaissance in Storytelling: America's Master Storytellers Come to the Smithsonian. Later, the Smithsonian commissioned Syd to write a story about the fighter pilots of World War I for the National Air and Space Museum. The resulting recording, Intrepid Birdmen, won awards from both the American Library Association and Parents' Choice.
In all, Syd's recordings have garnered four Notable Children's Recordings awards from the American Library Association, three Gold Awards from Storytelling World Magazine, and two Gold Awards from Parents' Choice. IBM and Good Housekeeping chose Syd's rendition of the story "Joseph the Tailor" to be sent to every elementary school in the nation as part of their Tell-Me-a-Tale Celebration.
At the forefront of exploring new ways to use storytelling, Syd has done considerable work in education. He has performed and taught in schools across America, serving as storyteller-in-residence at numerous colleges. The Kennedy Center has invited Syd to Washington to teach in its professional development program for educators He also co-directed an annual institute at the Chicago History Museum, helping teachers use storytelling to teach Mexican history and culture. Syd was one of eight storytellers sent by the National Storytelling Foundation to work with Disney World's writers and directors. He has also run numerous workshops for lawyers, doctors, hospice workers, and clergy.
Syd is known for his varied repertoire. Many of his best-loved stories deal with growing up and raising a family in Chicago. He is also known for his original historical pieces and his signature versions of literary tales, especially those of Edgar Allan Poe. Syd is one of the country's leading tellers of Jewish tales. He starred with Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame in the Chicago presentation of Do-It-Yourself Chanukah.
Syd holds an A.B. from Harvard College and an M.A.T. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. During his 30-year career as a high school English teacher, Chicago's Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching awarded Syd its prestigious Golden Apple Award. The National Storytelling Network inducted him into the Circle of Excellence for his work as a storyteller.