Shannon Scott – Minister of Stories
Personalism. Passion. Performance. The “lost art of storytelling,” hasn’t gone lost on a man called, Shannon Scott.
Shannon Scott, Our Founder
Born in Terra Haute, IN, and raised in Rantoul, Illinois, Shannon Scott was raised by school teacher parents and grew up surrounded by farmland and the Chanute Air Force Base. As a child, Shannon excelled in art & history, becoming a natural storyteller with a strong ability to paint pictures in minds of others with words. His boyhood filled with typical things like detasseling corn, painting barns, racing dirt bikes, and traveling the country with his parents to great natural, event & personality historical sites. The exposure to the likes of Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Philadelphia, Yosemite, Mammoth Caves, The Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Tombstone, The Painted Desert, Redwood Forest and others, instilled a great love for history and paved the way for Shannon as storyteller. As he’s often mused, “as kids, my friends all wanted to go to Disney-world, and I wanted to go to Williams-burg.” In his high school years, he discovered a natural love for art, winning many Scholastic Awards, and eventually a Fine Arts’ Scholarship to the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). And as they say, the rest is history. Be sure to read the main blog to learn more about the fascinating life, times and career of your future host and storyteller, Shannon Scott!
Lisa Marie, The Soul of The South
“The Soul of The South”
Lisa Marie, is our native Savannahian on staff, and one of our highest rated and most beloved storytellers. She is also available for Private Tours of Bonaventure. Lisa is an incredibly gifted fine artist, former model, has acted in film & television but really prefers the low-key life of The Low Country. She’s as real of a person as you’ll ever meet. One of our guests aptly called her, “The Soul of The South,” for her grace, wit, charm and demeanor. She was raised, in part, by a Gullah-Geechee “mame” and owes her unique understandings of life, death, burial (and after life), from experiences shared with her mame. Lisa even speaks a bit of the dialect, but you’ll have to persuade her nicely, to demonstrate! While Lisa is a gifted storyteller, perhaps her greatest talent is as portrait artist. When she’s not busy with all of that, she is the proud mother of a teenage girl who is also following in her footsteps as artist!
Susannah Robertson, A Modern Day Victorian
Guide Susannah Robertson
Susannah is one of our other highest rated guides and might be best described as “born in the wrong age.” Which is to the benefit of our guests as the age to which she belongs is The Victorian Era as often her wardrobe defines. A California native, Susannah grew up with a fascination for the Victorian era that has manifested awkwardly for decades; being pulled over by TSA for wearing a historically accurate over-bust corset was only the beginning. A Savannah tour guide for 10 years, Susannah has participated in numerous historical reenactment events and programs for museums and private organizations. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, she studied illustration in Paris and New York City, which further helped her to develop an understanding of Victorian art and the visual language used. When she is not leading tours or cinching her corset, Susannah enjoys printmaking, cooking, and reading incredibly boring books with a dog on her lap.
Jessica “The Victorian Age Professor”
Jessica Under The Eternal Acanthus Vine Arch
We first met Jessica a decade ago when she was simply running an entire website devoted to Victorian cemeteries! Now she’s touring in one and the world get’s the benefit of her specialized knowledge! Jessica is a native of southwest Florida and has been living in Savannah since 2002. A self proclaimed taphofile, she has been visiting cemeteries her whole life and has had an affinity for the Victorian era, especially customs related to death and morning, since a young age. She has a BA in Art History with special interests in early 19th century photography and the building arts. She also holds an MS in the study of Information Science. “I have the best job,” she says, “I feel akin to a walking professor.” When she’s not in our local cemeteries doing reaserch, you can still find her there walking her best friend, Dobby, a rescue pitbull dog whom she adopted in 2019.