Kevin Kling, best known for his popular commentaries on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and his storytelling stage shows like “Tales From the Charred Underbelly of the Yule Log,” delivers hilarious, often tender stories. Kling’s autobiographical tales are as enchanting as they are true to life: hopping freight trains, getting hit by lightning, performing his banned play in Czechoslovakia, growing up in Minnesota, and eating things before knowing what they are. He describes his zodiac sign as “Minnesota with Iowa rising…”
Kling graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater. His storytelling started when a friend from the now defunct Brass Tacks Theatre asked him to perform his stories. Since then, he has been awarded numerous arts grants and fellowships.
Kling has not been slowed in his work despite a congenital birth defect (shortened left arm with no wrist or thumb) and a near fatal motorcycle accident that completely paralyzed his right arm. He continues to write plays and stories in a rigorous fashion, and travels around the globe to numerous storytelling festivals and residencies. He has released a number of compact disc collections of his stories and has published five books.
It is with great pleasure that Carleton College confer on Kevin Kling the degree Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.