August 19

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Marie-Pierre Baltz, is a native of France.

Her twelve years of Montessori education gave her a strong sense of independence and the desire to experience the world. Her supportive parents encouraged her to pursue her studies and practice of languages, as well as her interest for dance, music, theater and writing. She attended the Catholic University of Lille, France where she majored in foreign languages (English, Spanish and German), and traveled through Europe, Canada and the US. as an interpreter for her “Haute Couture” father’s business. A shift of interest brought her to the US in 1969 to study the Montessori philosophy of education, taught in Cincinnati and came to Joliet Il in 1973, where she met her husband Joseph M. Baltz, an actor, a framer, and a photography teacher.  Their two artistic children, Emilie and Timothee, are her constant inspiration. Now retired, Marie-Pierre feels that elder hood opened up exciting new avenues, and her stories from both sides of the Ocean could make you wonder where lies her center of gravity!

Gillian King-Cargile is passionate about helping people learn more about the world around them. She is a Communications Coordinator at Argonne National Laboratory, where she creates articles, videos, tours, events, and experiences to share how Argonne’s cutting-edge research and pivotal discoveries are shaping everything from human health to energy access to our understanding of the cosmos.    Gillian is also the author of several books and stories for adults and children. She and her husband founded Poke Prize Press, which publishes picture books for children with Type 1 Diabetes. In everything she does, Gillian seeks to use humor and creativity to kindle a love of reading and learning. 

Amy Curtis was an early participant in the Inspired! live lit storytelling classes and told her first story in 2019.She believes stories express our common humanity and connect us to one another. Amy paints, feeds her backyard birds, is curious about almost everything and enjoys a good book and a good cup coffee above

most all other things. She is a local real estate agent and a Lockport resident.

Cean Magosky is a surgical nurse by day, and a creative dabbler in

whatever free time is left. A long-time member of the Downers Grove Writer's Workshop and currently affiliated with WriteOn

Joliet, where he has contributed short stories and poetry to several anthologies, he has also been involved in their WriteOn Live project for the past three years, providing stories and interstitial script for the event. Cean draws on a wide variety of life experiences for his

story-telling, including time in the theatre, years as a church musician, a magician's assistant, fishing guide and 'other duties as

assigned'. Cean and his wife Anne have two grown children and will celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary this year. They also

share their home with a parade of senior rescue dogs, helping them live their best lives. Cean has published two books on local

architectural history, Historic Impressions Volume II, which he completed after his brother's passing, and Schools by F. S. Allen

which recreates a 1901 advertising booklet to tell the story of the famous school architect.

Susan used a bit of her pandemic time to learn the art of Storytelling and has enjoyed some success including wins on the MOTH stage, appearances at the MOTH Grandslam and most recently was honored to have one of her stories included on the MOTH Radio Hour. Susan works in higher education and earned her BA at Northwestern University and an MS and MA at Roosevelt University. She is most proud of her family and has been a licensed foster parent for the last 25 years.