Filmmakers

Steve Zeitlin received his Ph.D. in Folklore from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.A. in Literature from Bucknell University. He is the director and cofounder of City Lore, an organization dedicated to the preservation of New York City's—and America's—living cultural heritage. Prior to arriving in New York, Steve Zeitlin served for eight years as a folklorist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He has taught at George Washington University, American University, NYU, and Cooper Union. Steve Zeitlin has served as a regular commentator for the nationally syndicated radio shows, Crossroads and Artbeat, and currently develops segments on "The Poetry of Everyday Life" for The Next Big Thing, heard on National Public Radio. His commentaries have appeared on the Op Ed pages of the New York Times and Newsday. He also coproduces the storytelling series "American Talkers" for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday and Morning Edition. Steve is the author and coauthor of a number of award winning books on America's folk culture including A Celebration of American Family Folklore (Pantheon Books, l982); The Grand Generation: Memory Mastery and Legacy (U. of Washington Press, l987); City Play (Rutgers University Press, l990); Because God Loves Stories: An Anthology of Jewish Storytelling (Simon & Schuster, 1997); and Giving a Voice to Sorrow: Personal Responses to Death and Mourning (Penguin-Putnam, 2001). His children's books include While Standing One One Foot: Puzzle Stories and Wisdom Tales from Jewish Tradition (Henry Holt, l996); Cow of No Color: Riddle Stories and Justice Tales from World Traditions (Henry Holt, l998); and a book on world cosmologies, The Four Corners of the Sky (Henry Holt, 2000). He is the author of a new volume of poetry, I Hear America Singing in the Rain (First Street Press, 2003).