About Jim Cogan
Jim Cogan's energetic, often hilarious, and always moving oral presentations of fables, folklore, history, mythology, and personal memories have captivated millions of listeners of all ages. His engaging children's programs get everyone involved in the telling. Enchanting teens and adults, Jim offers an eclectic menu of history, mystery, drama, and family lore as he serves up a visual and verbal feast of time, place, character, and action. Incorporating a mesmerizing blend of sounds, faces, gestures, and words, Jim Cogan celebrates the infinite possibilities of imaginative human expression.
Jim brings experiences gained as an actor, wildland firefighter, Yosemite National Park historian, teacher/administrator, journalist, and author to his world as a spoken word artist. Growing up as the middle child in a zany Irish American family of nine, Jim was surrounded by storytellers and stories. Parroting those tales through his schooling, he soon created his own stories. Jim performed constantly at UCLA and toured Europe with USO shows. He has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival and served as Teller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Here in the West, Jim has received commissions to create unique, interactive storytelling programs for the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Orange County Museum of Art, and the College of Idaho. Teller-in-Residence for 10 years at the Los Angeles County Fair, he served as storyteller-interpreter-docent trainer for each year's exhibit at the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts. Master storyteller-teacher with Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts for 30+ years, Jim continues to tour the West as a veteran assembly provider, keynote speaker, workshop leader, and summer reading catalyst at numerous libraries. Still featured on PBS-TV 'STORYTIME', Jim also takes time to fight bullying with his inspiring stories of kindness, empathy, resilience, and the power of one.