Jimmy Neil Smith

Jimmy Neil Smith is founder and president of the International Storytelling Center (ISC) in Jonesborough, Tennessee. In 1973, Smith, then a local journalism teacher, hosted the first National Storytelling Festival as a way to build regional and national awareness of Jonesborough. Two years after the first Festival, Smith founded the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling—now known as the International Storytelling Center. Smith is also known for authoring two books: Homespun and Why the Possum Lost its Tail.