At long last, the first Just One Story… episode — the first of a set of four, actually — to be recorded at New York City's storytelling mecca: the Statue of Hans Christian Andersen inside Central Park.

Without further adieu, we give you Diane Wolkstein at the place where she made her name and fame way back in 1967:

Story ©1978, 1997 Diane Wolkstein.
Video ©2010 Diane Wolkstein/Philip David Morgan — Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales, first published in 1978 (and then again in 1997) by Random House, is nothing short of a classic in the international storytelling repository. It is the result of many years spent among the Haitian people, transcribing their stories, finding the ones that would appeal the best to readers in North America, and refining them in a way that can be embraced by any storyteller.

Decades later, it has lost not one bit of its appeal.

This year, Roomful of Sky Records, the brainchild of musician Phil Robinson, will release the first of two albums (as Compact Discs and as digital downloads) with stories from the book, as performed by Mme. Wolkstein herself (with help from her long–time collaborator, musician Shirley Keller). The first of these albums will street on September 22nd, but you can also order it now from Mme. Wolkstein's website.

And if you haven't already seen it, here is Episode 4 — recorded inside Scandinavia House back in May (during a benefit to help provide relief for a post–hurricane Haiti) — with another story from the book, "One, My Darling, Come to Mama":

Story ©1978, 1997 Diane Wolkstein.
Video ©2010 Diane Wolkstein/Philip David Morgan — Promenade Digital [Mediaworks].

This one is about a fourth — and intentionally–neglected — daughter and what becomes of her after her three sisters are stolen away from her mother. What is especially remarkable about this story is how Philamandre offers compassion to her mother after so many years of neglect.

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