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Leland resident Scott Craig, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who worked for CBS, NBC, PBS, Turner Broadcasting and HGTV—and later moved to Leelanau County where his plays, radio features, and stories have been omnipresent on the airwaves, at local restaurants and cafes, and on stage at the Old Art Building—died on Thursday, April 18, at age 89. A celebration of Scott’s life will take place on his 90th birthday, Monday June 24, at 4 pm at the Old Art Building, a place where he helped create a lot of theater magic. “I’m never happier than when I’m working on a creative project,” Scott told the Glen Arbor Sun in 2020. “I’ve only been bored a half a day since I retired … because I’ve always found something creative to do.”

Legendary local storyteller, Scott Craig, adapted his latest book for the stage. His comedy, Laughing in Leelanau, debuts at the Old Art Building in Leland at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22. All proceeds from this one-of-a-kind production will go towards necessary upgrades for the building’s theater. Tickets are $100 and should be purchased in advance by contacting the Old Art Building.

Great storytellers are born and made. Scott Craig of Leland exemplifies this maxim. “I grew up in the home of a professor of speech and drama,” Scott remembers about his father. “He was an excellent actor and fine director who graduated college in 1929 in the dark days of the Great Depression. He acted in summer stock with the Gish sisters, Lillian and Dorothy, and directed at the Phoenix Theater in New York City. So our home was a mecca for theater people.” As a teenager Scott remembers coming home from school one day to change into his baseball togs only to find the famous British stage and film actor Charles Laughton there reading to his brother. Scott’s father brought Thornton Wilder to Wooster College and directed him in Our Town. “Performance and storytelling permeated our home,” Scott continues. “Dad was a popular after-dinner speaker at things like Rotary Club meetings and annual dinners. He had his canned speeches, one of which was called Why We Laugh! He had a string of jokes.”

Leland resident Scott Craig tells the story of his life and the backstory of his public radio program “The Story Next Door” at the next “Talk About Art” interview, April 24, 7:30 p.m., at the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA), 6031 S. Lake St.

In the Talk About Art series Sarah Bearup-Neal conducts live interviews with local and regional artists about their art making and thinking. These insightful interviews take place monthly at 7:30 p.m., at the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) at no charge.

In the Talk About Art series Sarah Bearup-Neal conducts live interviews with local and regional artists about their art making and thinking. These insightful interviews take place monthly at 7:30 p.m., at the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) at no charge.

This is a unique opportunity to meet more than 20 local authors at one time in one location, in the Pine Patch at the Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor (rain location across the street at Bethlehem Lutheran Church). On Friday, Aug. 2 between 2 and 4 p.m. the best of mystery, history, essay writers and artists will gather.