Jimmy Neil Smith

Jimmy Neil Smith, age 77, died March 15, 2025, after a lengthy illness. He was the son of the late Fred Neil Smith and Dorothy Marie Jackson Smith and lived most of his life in Jonesborough, Tenn. Jimmy was widely known for creating the nation's first festival devoted exclusively to storytelling. His work over the next four decades led to establishing the nonprofit International Storytelling Center (ISC), which has become a definitive institution and landmark in Jonesborough and the state of Tennessee. A three-acre green space adjacent to the center was named Jimmy Neil Smith Park in 2014 to honor his legacy.

The arts leader once wrote that one of his greatest blessings was "experiencing the joy of living in the most perfect place in the world, Jonesborough in Tennessee. I haven't ever wanted to live anywhere else." Starting in the early 1970s, Jimmy began working tirelessly in partnership with local leaders to build opportunities for Jonesborough's economic growth and development. His creativity and determination were defining elements, perhaps contributing more than anything else over the next 50 years to the town's eventual success. Due to his work and that of others since, Jonesborough is known today as the Storytelling Capital of the World.

Jimmy was born in his maternal grandparents' house, an historic farm-style home, known as the Blair Farm, in 1947. About two years later, his parents, both educators, moved into a newly built house on East Main Street, where he and sister Jill grew up staging "Ed Sullivan Shows" in the family basement. In his youth, Jimmy loved politics and researched all the U.S. presidents, collecting paraphernalia related to each one. He was fascinated with history and anything old, and, while still a teenager, used his own money to purchase a free-standing, antique Victrola that had to be hand-cranked.

While in high school, he began submitting articles to the Herald & Tribune and later regularly penned a history column called "Heritage in Buckskin" for the Johnson City Press. He once told a reporter, "One of the reasons people don't enjoy history is that it can be written in a very boring language. My approach was to begin many of my pieces with a setting, to use storytelling elements to make them more readable." Jimmy continued to write his column while attending East Tennessee State University and later compiled his work into two booklets, also titled "Heritage in Buckskin." After graduating, he taught history and journalism classes for three years at Science Hill High School. In 1968, he married his high school sweetheart, Marsha Chase, and their son, Eric, was born two years later.

Jimmy left teaching after his marriage ended and purchased an 1800s Gothic-style church in downtown Jonesborough, which he transformed into a country-style restaurant called The Parson's Table. The menu integrated many of his "Mamaw" Jackson's recipes. He later turned the parsonage, located behind the church, into a separate eatery, The Widow Brown's. Both restaurants were popular during the 1970s.

Jimmy's entrepreneurship went hand-in-hand with his interest in revitalizing his favorite town. He often mingled with town leaders and shared his ideas for how to jump-start Jonesborough's lagging economy. The town was, after all, Tennessee's oldest, and that, in Jimmy's mind, stood for something of great importance.

While teaching, Jimmy served as advisor for the high school's newspaper staff. One day while driving students to the Elizabethton Star for production work, comedian Jerry Clower's voice came up on the car radio, telling a tale about raccoon hunting in Mississippi. His storytelling brought mixed reviews from the students, as well as from Jimmy, who noted aloud, "What would you all think about getting people together to tell stories?"

Not long after, Jimmy suggested this very idea to Jonesborough's town leaders. The first festival was held in 1973 in a local high school gymnasium, with Clower taking center stage, along with Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys. The next day people returned to downtown and sat on hay bales as various tellers shared tales extemporaneously from the back of a flatbed truck. Jimmy noted later that these were the moments in which the real magic of storytelling had occurred.

Two years after that first event, Jimmy launched the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling (NAPPS), with tellers Doc McConnell, Connie Regan-Blake, Barbara Freeman, Lee Pennington, Kathryn Windham, and Ardi St. Clair serving as its first board of directors. Jimmy and his board planned each festival and worked to network storytellers and listeners across the United States. As audiences grew, huge circus tents were used to accommodate the growing number of listeners. Later on, Jimmy and his staff advanced storytelling by holding workshops and conferences, and through publications such as Yarnspinner and The National Storytelling Journal (later named Storytelling Magazine).

In 1978, Bob Browning was hired as Jonesborough's town administrator, which coincided with Jimmy's own election as mayor. "I knew that I could work with Bob and many others," he later wrote, "to build a better quality of life, make positive community change, and generate a stronger economy for the town." Jimmy served two more terms. In 1980, he married Jean Gibson with whom he shared his life for the next 34 years. Together, they cared for two sets of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, both named Max and Ollie; later on, the couple traveled with friends to exotic places around the world.

Due to financial issues surrounding his restaurants, Jimmy left these pursuits behind in 1984 to assume the full-time directorship of NAPPS. Under his leadership, the organization and annual festival flourished, sparking a folk revival of storytelling that reverberated around the world. Over the next decade, he focused on founding a small publishing house, the National Storytelling Press, and establishing an archive of storytelling resources. He also authored two story collections, "Homespun" (1988) and "Why the Possum Lost Its Tail" (1993).

In 1995, the organization's name was changed from NAPPS to the National Storytelling Association (NSA). And three years later, a major restructuring occurred, which resulted in two separate entities: the National Storytelling Network (NSN), which would address the needs of members, and the International Storytelling Center (ISC), which had the larger mission of applying storytelling in the workplace, in healthcare, and in the world community. Jimmy was made president of the latter.

Ultimately, the ISC board and town planners decided that building a headquarters for storytelling events and community gatherings would cement the viability of Jonesborough as a true tourist destination. World renowned architect Robert Stern along with local firm Ken Ross Architects designed and managed construction on the $5 million project - which was paid for with funds from a USDA Rural Development loan, grants, and donors, such as James C. and Mary B. Martin. Today, the ISC campus consists of the historic Chester Inn, the Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, a gift shop, and the Jimmy Neil Smith Storytelling Park.

Jimmy and his talented staff furthered ISC's goals over the next decade through research projects, new programming (such as Storytelling Live), and new partnerships, such as Project Zero with the Harvard Graduate School of Education and projects carried out with NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. He resigned as president and CEO of ISC in 2011 and, at the age of 64, set out on his own to begin a new venture, Partnership for a Better Future. Under this umbrella, he hoped to help other communities realize their dreams, just as Jonesborough had done.

Jimmy is survived by his son, Eric Smith-Breeden (married to Jill English Smith-Breeden), of Wilmington, N.C.; former wife and friend Jean Smith of Jonesborough, Tenn. He had two grandchildren, Josh Smith-Breeden (partner Sarah Thompson) of Winston-Salem, N.C., and Matthew Smith-Breeden of San Antonio, Texas. He had a sister, Jill Oxendine (married to Brian Dennison) of Bristol, Tennessee; two nieces, Alina Oxendine (married to Zack Sullivan) of Stillwater, Minn., and Mary Beth Oxendine (married to Richard Woodby) of Bristol, Tenn.; and three grand nephews, Ian and Owen Sullivan and West Woodby. He had numerous cousins.

A Celebration of Life service, to be announced at a later date, will be open to the public and held at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough. A private committal and inurnment service will be held at Monte Vista Memorial Park, with the Rev. Dr. Larry Easterling officiating. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial donations to the International Storytelling Center, 116 W. Main St., Jonesborough, Tenn. 37659.

Arrangements especially for Mr. Jimmy Neil Smith and his family have been made through Monte Vista Funeral Home & Memorial Park, 1900 E. Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, TN; 423-282-2631.