January 2025
Jeff Ediger

Jeff owns and operates a small business dedicated to the restoration of architectural elements. Drawing upon his life and work, he composed and performed his first solo show titled "Dwell is a Verb." This show was inspired by a statement made by the Jewish French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, "We dwell; therefore we build architecture"...to which he added the caveat, "Sadly, then, we forget how to dwell." The vignettes in this show derive from his meditative melting down of the symbolic structures of architecture to recover the human capacity that makes them possible. Twelve years later--some things just take a little time--he got inspired to compose and perform a second show, based on a statement made by Rabbi Ishmael, recorded in the Talmud: "All beginnings are hard." This show, titled "Dawn and Other Difficult Beginnings" is a meditation in story (and song) about the various difficulties we encounter in any new venture...but why we should begin them anyway! (This show and a couple of vignettes from his first show are available on his YouTube channel.)
Tim Harrington

Tim Harrington was born and brought up on the far south side of Chicago when there were still street cars going down Stony Island Avenue. He graduated from Loyola University in 1969 and went on to become a civil servant for the City of Chicago. He has no, I repeat no, experience in the performing arts, or for that matter the arts of any kind except bookbinding. He is, however, fatally attracted to artist types as evidenced by his beautiful third wife Loretta. Many of his stories come from his travels and reconnections with family both here and abroad, abroad being in Scotland and Ireland. He is currently enjoying a healthy and vigorous retirement and is trying his hand at storytelling for the very first time.
Rebecca Lindell

Rebecca Lindell has spent decades telling other people's stories — first as an underpaid editorial assistant in the New York City book publishing world, and then as an underpaid reporter at newspapers around the Midwest. More recently, she worked as a somewhat-better-paid communications professional in higher education. Now she's a freelance writer telling stories of her own — and teaching others the art of storytelling through the written word. She particularly enjoys working with college-bound high school seniors panicking over their application essays. She loves showing them that they, too, have funny, compelling, heartbreaking and inspiring stories to tell. Rebecca's second-favorite thing to do after storytelling is hiking. She's hiked in 30 of the 50 U.S. states, and last year accomplished one of her life's dreams: walking the 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
Annie Roessler

Annie Roessler is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and studied Behavioral Neuroscience in college before completing her PhD in Pharmacology at Loyola University Chicago. In her current role, Annie serves as a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, leading research and development aspects of early stage products. Outside of work, Annie spends her free time guiding backpacking trips with the Sierra Club, running long distances with Chicago Area Runners Association, and replicating recipes from the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated. Annie has recently returned to Chicago after living abroad in England, and she is delighted to be reunited with Portillo’s chocolate cake shakes.
Elizabeth Smart

Elizabeth Smart has always loved hearing and telling stories. She grew up in Skokie, lived quite a few years on the north side of Chicago, and currently resides in the western suburbs. After studying theology and psychology, she embarked on a 35 year career in health care, primarily as a medical speech pathologist. This offered her the honor of walking closely with people in the most difficult situations, and to see the depth of human nature and resilience. When not writing stories, you may find her tutoring immigrant English language learners, singing in choir, or walking among trees. She is likely to stop on a moment’s notice to snap a photo of tree bark, clouds, or reflections in water.
DeWitt C. Williams

DeWitt C. Williams was named after his grandfather, who was named after an abolitionist. DeWitt is from the south side and is the youngest of 11 children, raised by a single mother. He enjoys travel, skiing, scuba diving, hang gliding, and photography. He truly loves movies. Seriously. It's insane. Don't start talking to him about them. He'll follow you home, stand in front of your house, and yell up at your window to keep the conversation going.
Maryilene Blondell

A native Chicagoan~ being the only girl in the home of four alpha males. This, of course, translates into hardly ever being able to finish a sentence, let alone a story. She does not believe there was ever a time when a full sentence of hers was ever finished. She's looking forward to trying. Now, long gone from the testosterone vortex, she has migrated to the estrogen vortex with her three daughters where she fights for her life to get a word in. She schooled them with the notion of letting their 'voices be heard'- which she now, deeply regrets. When she isn't in a bloody battle to finish a sentence...with someone, she's a film producer and writer.