The International Storytelling Center is saddened to announce the passing of our founder and president emeritus Jimmy Neil Smith, who died on Saturday, March 15 after a long illness.
Jimmy Neil was a visionary — “a country boy with a dream,” in his words — who organized the folk-art revival of storytelling in the twentieth century. By creating the National Storytelling Festival and, later, the parent organization that would become the International Storytelling Center, he changed the face of the arts in the United States.
Born and raised in Jonesborough, Tennessee’s oldest town, Jimmy Neil’s aspirations for the art of storytelling were inextricably tied to the revitalization of his beloved hometown. Like many Main Street communities across the country, Jonesborough was economically and socially flagging in the 1970s. Jimmy Neil recognized that stories were a powerful cultural asset with a special history in the region. Under his leadership, Jonesborough would eventually rebrand itself as the “Storytelling Capital of the World,” transforming the small-town setting into a showcase for world-class artists.
Jimmy Neil was working as a high school journalism teacher when he had the idea that would change his life. Very quickly, he organized the town’s first storytelling event. Though the gathering consisted of only about 60 people, he had the foresight and audacity to name it the National Storytelling Festival. The inaugural event’s humble trappings (which included hay-bale seating) belied the scope of our founder’s ambition. The festival would grow into its name over time, eventually drawing more than 10,000 visitors to Jonesborough each year.
The first National Storytelling Festival was in 1973. Almost immediately, Jimmy Neil recognized that the emerging art form needed professional support and infrastructure beyond the scope of a single event. To that end, he founded the organization that is now the International Storytelling Center in 1975.
In the nascent period that followed, from 1978 to 1984, Jimmy Neil served three terms as the mayor of Jonesborough. His tenure was a busy time of planning, revitalization, and growth. The town planners he worked with recognized that storytelling would not just put Jonesborough on the map as a cultural center of national and global significance; it would also drive economic and community development efforts. Storytelling was a draw for tourists as well as an important way to preserve oral traditions in a time of upheaval and change.
The offices of the International Storytelling Center were eventually located in Jonesborough’s historic Chester Inn, on Main Street. From the outset, Jimmy Neil planned to expand the facilities into a campus that included a performance hall and a park. All these aspirations and more would be realized by the time he retired in 2012. After leading a cultural exchange program to China, arranging for collaborations with hallowed institutions like NASA and the Smithsonian, and spearheading the premier storytelling festival in the United States for decades, he had more than earned time to rest.
While the National Storytelling Festival remains the gold standard for storytelling events across the nation, Jimmy Neil’s advocacy for storytelling-informed workshops and educational efforts are an important element of his legacy. As a teacher, a journalist, and a community leader, he recognized the power of storytelling to help people work better and live more meaningful lives. His stewardship of the art form would go on to inform and inspire not just other festivals across the nation, but also the work of influential organizations like StoryCorps and the Moth.
In 2024, the three-acre park behind the International Storytelling Center was renamed Jimmy Neil Smith Park by the Town of Jonesborough. The symbolic gesture honored his legacy as a community builder in the place that meant so much to him.
Beyond the lives he touched here in Tennessee, Jimmy Neil offered a powerful insight into humanity at large. He saw the value in every individual’s story, while recognizing that no one story can stand alone — that our lives, cultures, and narratives are all inextricably connected.
Jimmy Neil’s life’s work was platforming other people so that all of us could better understand each other, and ultimately ourselves. The International Storytelling Center is proud to continue his mission, but our founder will be deeply missed.