Michael Luster

Dr. Michael Luster, a native of Texas, holds degrees from East Texas State University, the University of Arkansas and the University of Pennsylvania. He co-founded WEIR, Wide Earth Information Resources, a nonprofit corporation devoted to traditional and community arts and outreach. He produces and hosts a weekly radio program called Hand Crank Radio for public station KASU.

He previously served as director of the Arkansas Folklife Program and of the Louisiana Folklife Festival and as folklife specialist with the North Carolina Maritime Museum. He has taught at the University of Arkansas and the University of New Orleans, served as cultural consultant for the feature film Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, and in the documentary Rhythm and Bayous.

His work with the musical group the Menhaden Chanteymen of Beaufort, North Carolina was featured on “CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt,” and the recording he produced of them was selected by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress as one of the outstanding recordings of 1990.

He has been a frequent participant in panels, workshops, and festivals throughout the country and has worked with the Smithsonian’s Festival of American Folklife, the Olympics, the National Folk Festival, the Great Lakes Folk Festival, the Lowell Folk Festival, the American Folk Festival, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Bio from WriteatHome.com.