The 17th annual Storytelling Festival will be Friday-Saturday, March 26-27,with concerts and workshops in the David Adamany Undergraduate Library and St. Andrew's Hall at Wayne State University.

Professional storytellers Lot Therrio from Connecticut, Ruth and Sarah Stratton from New York and Linda Day from Michigan are participants.

Therrio, a psychotherapist and retired minister, has been telling stories for four years. He uses the technique to help young people understand Alzheimer's disease and offers ways they may use to assist patients.

Ruth Stratton (with daughter Sarah, who signs stories with American Sign Language) brings a wealth of lore based on her life on a dairy farm. She draws from her experience as a traveler to Japan and Alaska and as an instructor at Broome Community College in Binghamton, N.Y.

Day comes from a long line of family storytellers and includes some of "Gran's" stories in her presentations. She tells folklore, humor, scary stories and tales that require audience participation. Among her other performances are the National Story League Convention and the Michigan State Fair.

The late communication Professor William Alfred Boyce, the Story Peddler, began the annual festival in 1983 with an inheritance from his father, also a storyteller. The Boyce legacy continues.

For more information call the WSU Department of Communication at (313) 577-2943.