Introducing a New Podcast Series
Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, a storyteller with eight decades of experience. reveals her secrets with humor and innocence, starting in the 1940s. While a war was on and her father gone, she was told fairy tales of how a handsome rich Prince saved a beautiful, cheerful, hardworking Snow White. This gave her a clue of how the next seven decades would go - right up to 2020 when the world was stopped by an insidious enemy. Fill in the gap with what or whom was that enemy. But all of the world stopped, to sequester, reflect, scream, pivot, and finally recognize this is the time to change the world – then move forward.
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In between the 1940’s - 2020 Jeannette maneuvered through American society, which was mostly run by white men in charge of politics, corporations, churches, schools, media and popular culture – all forces that greatly influenced how an American woman was supposed to behave and look. By the time of her 80th birthday on May 23, 2020, Jeannette had figured a way through trap doors, grabbing a few golden rings on the merry-go-round along the way, to feel a sense of satisfaction with some wild wisdom to share. The result is a series of life stories that make up a podcast series called WILD WISDOM. It's a podcast series where women tell their stories about maneuvering through society’s shifting expectations on how a proper woman should look and behave.
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The stories you can hear now are just a sample of many more stories that will be added. If you like what you hear and want more – please subscribe.
BIO - Jeannette Paulson Hereniko
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As a young girl in Portland Oregon during the 1940s, Jeannette was mesmerized by the stories her maternal grandmother told her about growing up as a Volga German in Russia. By eleven, she was telling her own original stories in churches, schools and on her own storytelling radio show.
During the early 1960s she started a Storytelling Guild and Children’s Festival in Southern Oregon that attracted thousands of children to hear stories, see plays and participate in the arts.
During the 1970s she was a Storyteller with the Artist in Schools Program in Oregon and later Hawaiʻi.
Recognizing the power stories had that were told through movies and documentaries, she started the Hawaiʻi International Film festival (HIFF) in 1981. She continued at the helm of HIFF until 1996, taking time to also become the first Director of the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 1990.
From 1975 onward, she started producing and writing several documentaries, Her main film accomplishment came in 2004 when she produced an award-winning narrative feature film from Fiji called The Land Has Eyes.
On her 80th birthday, May 23, 2020, Jeannette premiered a podcast series with her life stories called WILD WISDOM. Joining her are three girlfriends, Heather Giugni, Amy Hill and Kathryn Waddell Takara. Each powerful life story illustrates how the looks and behavior of American women are influenced by the culture of the times. Each story has WILD WISDOM to share and hopefully encourages you to tell YOUR story.
GUEST BIOS
Guest Bios
KATHRYN WADDELL TAKARA
Kathryn Waddell Takara, PhD. is a celebrated poet, scholar, and performance artist who is also an award-winning author and the publisher and owner of Pacific Raven Press.
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" Few things have made such a huge impact on my happiness as well as add to the depth and power of the human experience as having friends who share their life stories and experiences with me. I am particularly grateful to friends with different and diverse experiences who have complicated and broadened my own understanding of the world. It is an honor to present to you stories told by three amazing inspiring friends whose stories reveal how they, as women of color have navigated the challenging stereotypes of a chosen era. Each one has an abundance of Wild Wisdom, and each story they present is truly a gift.
I am thrilled to tell you that Heather Haunani Giugni, Amy Hill and Kathryn Waddell Takara have stories that are included in this introduction to WILD WISDOM, the podcast series. Once you subscribe to the free podcast series, you’ll have the opportunity to hear more of their life stories."