Ethel Barrett (December 28, 1913 – May 10, 1998) was a Christian writer, speaker and storyteller, whose popularity peaked between the early 1950s and the mid-1980s. She sold millions of copies of over 40 different books for publishers like Gospel Light, Regal Books, and Zondervan. She also performed on 30 audio records and tapes. Currently, Barrett Enterprises LLC is the owner and caretaker of her intellectual property and is currently digitizing her writings and productions to preserve the archive and availability.
Biography
Barrett started her storytelling career as a Sunday School teacher in Schenectady, New York in the early 1940s. She was asked to teach the Boys Brigade class, made up of the most unruly boys in the area. She had so much trouble keeping their attention that she began telling Bible stories using character voices and full dialog to capture their attention. That Sunday School class became a great success and her local fame and storytelling talent landed her some weekend radio jobs where she would tell Bible stories on local Christian radio stations.
Barrett's most recognized works included the retelling of John Bunyan's Holy War: "The War for Mansoul, A John Bunyon Classic As Told By Ethel Barrett," published previously as "Holy War, With Apologies to John Bunyon," and "The Chronicles of Mansoul." "Storytelling – It's Easy" which had more than 21 different printings. Don't Look Now sold over 80,000 copies, The Secret Sign sold over 165,000, Will the Real Phony Please Stand Up over 150,000 and There I Stood in All My Splendor 640,000.
Barrett was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1978 in the "Best Record for Children" category for "Ethel Barrett Tells Favorite Bible Stories" and was posthumously awarded the Great Christian Storyteller Award for the last 100 years at the Christian Storytelling Convention in 2007.
