I’ve had the incredible pleasure of working, knowing and studying with some amazing individuals.
These people are brilliant and enlightened and I feel honored that they’ve touched my life in some way.
Stephen Strimpell
When I first got to New York, I went through several notso-good acting teachers. Then, I found Stephen. He was charming, witty, and knew more about acting and theater than anyone I’d met. Sadly, he’s passed away.
Stephen Strimpell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Strimpell
Kathryn McGuire
My father, Charles/Kathryn McGuire, also passed away in February 2010. I miss him/her greatly. He was the first open transvestite to run for public office in the U.S., became a huge socialite in Houston, TX, and eventually had a sex change to become Kathryn full time. He was the inspiration for my first play, Daddy Kathryn. Dad couldn’t have been more proud. Daddy Kathryn‘s still a work in progress… I’ll finish someday soon, I hope.
Kathryn McGuire: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Transgender-exec-remembered-as-a-role-model-1691496.php More: http://www.houstonpress.com/related/to/Kathryn+McGuire/
Of course, my mother touched me in innumerable ways as well. She was always humble, simple and wanted to be out of the public spotlight. She and my dad couldn’t have been more opposite. I miss them both greatly.
Teachers
I’ve studied with a lot of great teachers for acting, mime and writing in different workshops over the years: Betty Buckley, Alexander Chee, Chris Offutt & Roxana Robinson (at Wesleyan Writer’s Conference years ago), Gregg Goldston, Fran Gordon, Marcel Marceau, Stefan Niedzialkowski, and Lore Segal, to name some of them.
These were in workshops. Of course, I’ve had great teachers in academia as well. I’ve posted some of the websites below. Writers nowadays seem to live by their blogs and websites, which is a community unto itself, so I’ve not included the websites for the writing teachers.
James' Blog 