FORGED IN THE STARS UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI EXTENSION

At NASA Headquarters on October 7, 2010, award-winning storyteller Jay O’Callahan premiered his captivating story “Forged in the Stars: A NASA Story”. Commissioned by the NASA Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership to help commemorate NASA’s 50th anniversary, O’Callahan immersed himself in interviews and center visits and emerged with a fictional story that captures the heart of NASA and its unending passion for exploration and discovery. Compellingly told through the viewpoints of three main characters and a wonderful supporting cast—all portrayed by O’Callahan—his performance of a “love letter” to NASA has been received with a sense of joy, awe, and wonderment by NASA employees young and old.

Jay O’Callahan told at the first St. Louis Storytelling Festival in 1980, and has gone on to acclaim since then, having appeared at Lincoln Center, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, at the Olympics, and on NPR Radio. Time Magazine has called his work “genius.” His appearance at the 2019 Festival is a special event to commemorate the Festival’s 40th anniversary. Now a University of Missouri Extension Community Arts Program, the St. Louis Storytelling Festival celebrates the timeless, vibrant art of storytelling. He appears thanks in part to the generous support of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, the Festival’s presenting sponsor.