I am so very sorry to be writing this - but sadly Pete Davis, our good friend and much loved leader of the Storytellers of Nottingham has passed away. Many of you will know Pete in his capacity as the long-time organiser, MC and professional storyteller who has led the Storytellers of Nottingham for so long. Pete was an amazing teller - vibrant, hilarious, full of wit and banter and the teller of many local and traditional tales of mystery and fun. A retired fireman (with 30 years experience in the service of others) he was also a writer and devoted husband to his wife Sue. As a professional storyteller always in demand, he had us all continually in stiches and in awe of his storytelling. Pete was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just over a year ago, but was such a fit and energetic man we all thought he would defy his diagnosis - even up to a fortnight ago we thought he still had months to go. But sadly, just as he was planning a trip with his wife Sue to the Lake District, he took a sudden turn for the worse and suffered liver failure over the weekend. He died on Monday last week. We waited to post this to allow some good storytelling friends to be contacted before this went out on the grapevine / social media, but now Gabi (his long time storytelling colleague and family friend) has asked me to let you know. His funeral will be on Thursday this week - the 14th August at Bramcote Crematorium on the outskirts of Nottingham. If anyone would like to go to the funeral, his family would love to see you there in support, they only ask that you first contact Gabi on email gabi.stenson@googlemail so that she can keep track of numbers coming and pass on more details of where to go and when. Flowers are very welcome and can be directed to the Funeral directors, Lymms of Nottingham, or better still donations sent to MacMillans Cancer, a charity that has always been close to Petes heart. Pete was an inspiration to many of the local tellers in and around the East Midlands - his club at the Trip to Jerusalem (now at the Lord Roberts pub in Hockley) was where I told my first traditional tale and how I came to know him. Like many new tellers I remember him making me feel very welcome and though I was a bag of nerves beforehand and felt very foolish afterwards, he was incredibly encouraging and was mad enough to ask me to tell again - at a time when there were very few opportunities for aspiring tellers to find somewhere to tell stories in the area. The Nottingham club was very much his club which he (and Sue, together with a host of resident tellers) ran with great warmth and generosity and he worked in many settings with a particular love and support for older and mentally disabled groups who he felt were under-supported and under-valued. His stories always went down a storm, capturing an audience with that wicked glint in his eye, a quirk of his chiselled jaw and a flourish of economic but beautifully vivid language as he recounted his tales of dark humour, drama or broad comedy. He was a brave, self-effacing man who saw many things as a fireman and was passionate about storytelling. It is very hard to imagine either the club or the storytelling scene in the East Midlands without him. I found a wonderful article about Pete from 2010 which is a Q&A interview written in a style that was entirely Pete to a t - if you would like to read it, heres the link: Reading it again still brings a smile to my eye. Pete leaves behind his gorgeous wife Sue and daughter Jo, a grandson who I met on a few occasions at workshops and events and many more friends and family. He will be very, very much missed. leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/title/pete-davis----the-storyteller-/id/3062
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 19:45:21 +0000
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