He was the only son of an Irish Catholic mother and a Protestant Navy man. His mother frequently prayed for him to become a priest. But his father warned him, Son, never get a job where you have to wear a dress to work. So Ed Stivender compromised. After earning a bachelor's degree in theology, he taught religion in a Catholic high school, where he found his true calling as a jongleur (loosely-translated as "wandering minstrel-juggler"), telling stories, sometimes with music and often from the Bible. His many years as both a student and a teacher in the parochial school system form the basis...