Cap’s Off to You! – Francis “Frank” McGarvey (Posthumously) and Celebrating Story

Featuring: Francis “Frank” McGarvey

Reader-Turned-Teller, Loving Family Man, Valiant Volunteer

Francis “Frank” McGarvey retired so he could discover storytelling. He didn’t know it at the time. He had a lot of time on his hands and wanted to give back to the community. He found a school that would have him come in to read stories. From that reading, he discovered the delight of stepping away from the written words and celebrating the oral words.

What was before storytelling? He worked for the United States Postal Service for 30 years. He connected to people. But telling? There was a magic to it that he relished.

Frank had a deep voice that could be perfect for the grumbling of goblins to mischievous characters. He knew to start with the “gentle” stories before getting scarier for his audiences.

From the video featured below, he made a point that the kids who say “You can’t scare me” is really not about they wanting to see if you can scare them. Kids simply want to be scared…and safe.

Frank made sure his audience could get scared and then be safe again. That seems like a simple task, but is it? Looking at the bigger picture, I bet Frank had that same thought throughout his family and community life. He might reflect and think, “We live in a scary world. What can I do to make it safe?”

Revealed at Frank’s funeral, a speaker said that Frank did have a soft spot for the story “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams Bianco. The question for us in that story: how does one become real? You become real by being loved.

He made other people feel real due to the time and energy he gave to them. One example is that he served in many capacities with the Southern Ohio Storytellers Guild. He was even a Board Member and past Chair.

If you have links to add – video, audio, articles – please share by emailing info@storycrossroads.org or commenting on this blog post.

You can see more details on Francis “Frank” McGarvey with the Story Artists Memorial.

The video below shares an interview that happens to include two stories. The main focus is how to tell stories, especially scary ones.

Do you know a Story Artist who has passed on and want others to remember them? Memories? Pictures? You can submit names and memories of Story Artists who have passed on through our online form. 

I appreciate Frank McGarvey for serving in so many areas of his community including his storytelling guild itself. He gave great respect to those around him. He is certainly gathering people even now to tell stories of his time on Earth and the other tales gathered.

Francis “Frank” McGarvey still has a story. You have a story. We all have stories.