I am often asked how I began working with puppets -
And I have to admit, sometimes I ask myself that very question!
Even as a child, I knew that I wanted to do something special with my life.
But little did I dream that my profession would involve working with a green little boy.
I attended Messick High School in Memphis, Tennessee.
It was there that I tried out for my first play . . . The Sound of Music.
I got the part of Liesl, the sixteen year old daughter of the Von Trapp children.
I had been a very shy child, and drama helped to bring me out of my shell.
My senior year, I was in the play Carnival, which is the story of a young girl
named Lily who leaves her small town and joins the circus.
Lily sings with several puppets, It's a delightful play, and introduced me
to the use of puppetry, music, and drama combined.
I attended Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi.
Majoring in Communications and Education,
each year I participated in our schools' musicals.
My senior year, I focused on dramas made specifically for children.
We performed for many schools through out the state.
It was magic performing for children. I loved it!
While working as a Graduate Assistant for the
Communications Department of Mississippi College,
I did a research project on "Puppetry and it's Effect Upon Education"
which awoke a whole new avenue of creativity for me.
One of my professors, Dr. Bill Lytal built the above Puppet Stage for me,
and I performed puppet shows all over the state,
including shows for schools, churches, banquets, fund raisers, and shopping malls.
I was a regular performer for the local
TV Morning Talk Show called "Coffee with Judy".
I enjoyed observing how the children RESPONDED to the puppets,
I was amazed at how the children would LISTEN to the puppets,
and I was touched at the innocence in which the children LOVED the puppets.
During the summers of my college career,
I worked as a camp counselor for my home church,
Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee,
where I headed up their puppet ministry.
My College Professors encouraged me to go into puppetry professionally.
Puppetry was so much fun for me that I couldn't take it "seriously".
I felt that puppetry wasn't a "dignified" occupation.
(And I wanted to do something "important" with my life!)
So, I continued my plans to teach, and allowed puppetry to simply be my hobby.
In the Fall of 1971, I began teaching High School English,
Speech and Drama, in Haines City, Florida.
After a few years, I was hired to help begin Florida's Gifted Program,
becoming one of the state's first "Gifted Specialist".
I was an itinerant teacher who taught students with IQs around 140.
My gifted children created a puppetry segment which received state wide attention.
(This involved the process of "creating" a puppet, writing a script, and performing.)
Whenever possible, for my own joy, I acted in the local Community Theatre plays.
(My experience in drama helped greatly in my ability to work with puppets.)
Tampa Tribune, February 19, 1972.
While teaching school, I also worked with the Youth Group
for my church in Lakeland, Florida.
Along with the Associate Pastor, we created a marvelous puppet team!
Our church sponsored a Puppetry Workshop from Puppet Productions,
which is when I saw my first "Bernard Puppet"!
I knew that one day I would have to buy one for myself!
(Puppet Productions is the creator of my Bernard Puppet!)
In the meantime, I lectured for several teachers' conferences
on puppetry as an educational tool.
I also attended the Puppeteers of America's Workshops each Summer,
which is where I met Jim Henson, Sherri Lewis, Albrecht Roser,
and many other pioneers in puppetry.
While lecturing for a teacher’s conference in Houston, Texas,
the Head Chaplain from M.D. Anderson, Dr. Ed Mahnke, heard me speak.
He talked to me about the fear and trauma that children experience
when they are hospitalized.
He asked me if I had ever considered utilizing my puppets as a therapeutic tool
to help children cope with the emotional stresses of hospitalization.
He put something in my heart that I couldn’t ignore.
I resigned my teaching and moved to Fort Worth, Texas,
where I entered Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
to study Family and Grief Counseling.
While earning this degree, I also taught a course on
Puppetry for Tarrant County Junior College.
My greatest blessing during those seminary years
was having the honor of working as the secretary for the
of the Head of the New Testament Department,
Dr. J.W. MacGorman.
Dr. J.W. MacGorman, Head of the New Testament Department
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Fort Worth, Texas
This godly man became a father figure for me.
His wisdom and spiritual guidance enriched my life more than he could ever know.
Dr. MacGorman is now retired.
I was able to attend the dedication ceremony for the
J.W. "Jack" MacGorman Conference Center
at Southwestern which took place on September 10, 2001.
It was wonderful that such as Godly and Beloved Man
received such an honor while he was still alive!
I flew back to Memphis that evening, 9/10/01.
I graduated from Southwestern,
and began working as a Pediatric Therapist for the
Mississippi Baptist Medical Center
of Jackson, Mississippi in June 1979, where I stayed for twelve years.
Bernard became quite a little celebrity in the city,
and I treasure the memory of those years.
In 1990, my sister and her family moved back to our home town
Memphis, where we had been raised,
and where my mother, Dorothy Chiles, and my Uncle, Bill Lindenmayer, still lived.
My sister's children started praying that their “Aunt Di Di” would move back home.
Neither God nor I could ignore those sweet prayers.
In March 1991, I began working as Pediatric Therapist
for Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center.
The little girl on this Brochure is my own niece, Annaliese.
This is where I plan to stay as long as God and Le Bonheur allow me this gift.
I love my job! I thank God for it every day!
