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The Coyote's Inkwell was founded in April of 2011 as Michael Lang's personal storytelling and writing business. He offers performances and workshops for both entertainment and education. Michael's programs can be tailored and adapted to suit the needs of almost any audience or occasion. To learn more about his sotires, or to find his downloadable CD collections, visit the Storytelling page of The Coyote's Inkwell. Have questions about rates and fees? Interested in scheduling a program? Contact Michael Lang directly by phone or email.
Who Is Michael Lang?
At the age of nine, Mike and his family learned that he had a degenerative retinal condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa—a condition that could cause him to one day become completely blind. However, Mike went on with life as normal, intending to enjoy his eyesight so long as it remained. His fondness for the book "Keepers of the Earth" led Mike to read many other collections of Native American folktales. He quickly fell in love with a variety of mythologies and folklores, and he endeavored to learn as many stories as possible. Five years after being diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, Mike learned that he also had a kidney disorder, and that the two were likely somehow linked. Though there loomed the possible need for a kidney transplant in his future, Mike thought little of this, and once again, went on with life. Following his junior year of high school, he began working at Inter-Actions Summer Camp, a camp for children with vision impairments. In addition to teaching canoeing, kayaking, and many other skills that he had learned in the Boy Scouts, Mike—known to his campers as Bear—started telling bedtime stories from his collection of folktales, myths, and legends. Before long, he was making nightly rounds to all of the camp’s cabins with his Deck of Stories—a bundle of index cards, each bearing a simple drawing to represent one of his stories.
The following January, Mike was informed that his kidney function had fallen to the point where he would need a transplant within the next two years. While the search for a donor unfolded throughout the summer of that year, Mike returned to Minnesota for a second season with Wilderness Inquiry. He came home to New Hampshire in early September of 2007, and learned that his older brother, Eric, was a willing and possible donor. Two months later, they were both in surgery together, and they both had an almost textbook recovery. For a time, Mike worked as a volunteer for G.O.L.D. System Games, portraying the barkeep, Chance, in a live-action world of fantasy and adventure while also assisting in the revision and editing of the game’s written materials. Since then, he has started the next stage of his own adventure. Mike continues to teach life lessons and more with folktales, fables, legends, and laughter. To learn more about what he does, and the services that he offers, continue exploring The Coyote's Inkwell, or contact Mike directly by phone or email.
Last Updates: Monday, July 24, 2017
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Though he has been called by many nicknames throughout his career as
an outdoor educator, most people know him simply as Mike. He was
born in Salina, Kansas, but grew up in Durham, New Hampshire. Having
a vivid, and at times all too-active imagination, Mike became entranced
with fantastical stories of adventure and fictional worlds at an
early age. Coupled with a love for the outdoors, there was endless
fun to be had in the local marshes and woodlands. A fallen tree or
crumbling stonewall could be the ramparts of
a castle, or the main bridge of
a starship.
Mike
graduated from high school in the spring of 2001, and went on to
study Outdoor Education at the University of New Hampshire. Though
he continued to spend his summers at camp, Mike also worked part
time in the university’s Audio/Visual department, and as a
facilitator at the Browne Center for Innovative Learning. Mike’s
coursework at UNH took him from lecture halls on campus to climbing,
hiking, and paddling throughout New England, and from learning emergency
medicine his Freshman year to mountaineering in Alaska three days
after graduation. Along the way, Mike focused his studies on
inclusive designs for people with disabilities, and in the summer of
2006, he went to work in Minnesota as an intern with the trail staff
of Wilderness Inquiry—one of the leading pioneers in adaptive and inclusive
adventure activities. Once again, Mike—or Pirate as he was called by
his fellow guides—brought along his Deck of Stories, and entertained
both young and old around the campfire. When using Wilderness
Inquiry's 24-foot Voyageur Canoes, he would often assume the role
of "Pierre d' Voyageur" and bring the French fur trappers of the
early 1800's to life.