Helen Carmichael Porter was gifted from her earliest years. She had a swift imagination and intense energy, leaving no doubt that she was marked for stardom. She was attuned to the foibles of others and crafted these idiosyncrasies into weird and wonderful characters.
Her father, a Toronto United Church minister, used his estimable oratorical skills to enrapture his family with stories at the family cottage near Huntsville, Ont. Each summer evening, he gathered everyone around the hissing gas lamp and read aloud from such classics as Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Vicar of Wakefield and Grimms' Fairy Tales. Helen never forgot the delicious thrill a gothic tale brings to an imaginative child.
At summer camp, Helen wove ghost stories out of her vivid imagination and memory. As a young adult, she terrorized her nieces and nephews with tales of horror and suspense - and they loved every second of it.
Following university, Helen taught high-school drama and English, spending many years at Toronto's Vaughan Road Collegiate. She empowered her students through her imagination and generous spirit, and their appreciation empowered her. Yet, she needed room to create beyond the classroom. Making the leap to the then-unknown field of professional storytelling, she refined her talents in theatres, churches and schools across Canada.
In 1986, Helen married Gary Hophan, and together with his son, Philip, they established a creative home that became the birthplace of the National Storytelling Theatre, providing a vehicle for her to write, produce and perform shows. After the theatre's demise she continued to write, collect and tell stories while also leading workshops and teaching part-time.
Helen told her stories to audiences across Canada in performing arts venues and on radio, television and film. In 1996, she was invited to lead an assembly of high-school students on the topic of bullying. This inspired her to draw on her formative experiences. After eight years of touring this show, Helen wrote and published The Bully and Me: Stories that Break the Cycle of Torment.
In May, when Helen was diagnosed with leukemia, she saw cancer as just another bully to be reckoned with - and she was determined to come out victorious. Each morning, she laced up her sneakers to power-walk through the city streets she loved. She bravely fought the bully to the end with the loving support of her family.
Ross Smith is Helen's nephew and Anne Porter Paris is her sister.
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