Jessica Dawson and Sam Singhaus

In October of 2018, Orange County Library System hosted StoryCorps, a non-profit which provides people across the country with the opportunity to record and preserve the stories of their lives. Archiving the wisdom, experience, and cultural history of participants for the use of future generations.

During these recordings, local artist Thomas Thorspecken illustrated each of the subjects with pencil and watercolors.

Jessica Dawson and Sam Singhaus were close years ago but had a falling out. They came together to do the Story Corps interview. Sam is a local celebrity. I have seen him many times performing as Miss Sammy at events around town. He participated in Drag Queen Story Hour at the Orlando Public Library. Impulse Group Orlando organized the event which was presented in the spirit of the City of Orlando and One Alliance’s “Acts of Love and Kindness” movement. I am proud of the library for sponsoring the program which must have been fun. Any time I have seen Sammy perform I know I will laugh out loud. Jessica’s voice gave out so the interview had to be cut short, but it was heart warming to know that these friends realized that their differences weren’t as important as what they have in common.