I Am The Blues

About the Author

Gwyn Gorg is a graduate of the Theatre Academy of Los Angeles City College. She has worked professionally for more than thirty five years as actress, model, dancer, singer, songwriter, storywriter, screenwriter, producer, director, educator, and manager in theatre, television, radio, film and educational media.

As an educator, she has taught from kindergarten to high school in private and public schools. Her children’s art exhibit was honored and displayed at the Los Angeles International Airport. She served as the educational coordinator of the 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica. Ms. Gorg is a grant winner of The California Arts Council award. In 2007, Ms. Gorg won the teacher of the year award, by the United Teachers of Los Angeles. At the International House of Blues Foundation she co-created their Blues Schoolhouse Program as a performing artist and a history consultant.

In Hawai`i, Ms. Gorg was appointed resident artist in the schools by the Hawai`i State Department of Education. She founded the Hilo Theater for Youth, a community group dedicated to young performing artists, now in its twenty-sixth year of award-winning productions.

At Leeward College in Honolulu, she wrote, produced, directed and hosted the Oahu Gazette, a community television magazine show, for the Public Broadcasting Service. A film documentary she wrote and produced there, Inside State Prison, about Oahu Penitentiary, which won Special Honors at the Los Angeles International Film exhibition (Filmex).

Ms. Gorg wrote and produced The Savages, an educational documentary on juvenile street gangs, winning Honors at the Columbus Film Festival and the American Film Festival. Her entertainment feature film writing and producing credits include Living the Blues, starring the legendary Sam Taylor, the story of an old blues man in modern America, winner of a Filmtrax award at the Ghent International Film Festival for its outstanding presentation of musical culture and of a Best Feature Nomination at the American Film Institute Video Awards.

Ms. Gorg is the Executive Producer for Media Associates Production Company. Presently, she works as an instructor at the University of Hawai`i for the Maui Language Institute. Ms. Gorg makes her home on Maui with her husband.

About the Book

I Am The Blues is a story that depicts the evolution of the Blues from rhythmic drums in Africa merging into wails across the Middle Passage and morphing into calls and responses on the plantation fields. When freedom came, the drum rhythms and tones expanded to include new forms, instruments, and subsequently evolved into new genres. This music has been absorbed and transformed by people of many races and cultures into various musical forms: soul, rhythm and blues, pop, and techno, funk, country-western, and rap. I Am The Blues provides a way to educate and bring joy. I Am The Blues can be read as a catalyst for positive change, and the story encourages curiosity, excites the imagination, assists with self confidence, and teaches respect for oneself and others. This is a book for ages 8-108.