Reflections on Interpretation: Talking Story with Guides and Interpreters

Marta Cruz Kelly spent nearly 40 years as a steward of America's stories. A Senior Executive Service leader at the National Park Service, she held management roles in interpretation, information technology, and training, and she was the first person of color to lead interpretation and education agency-wide. She also spent years in nonprofits advancing natural and cultural resource education and preparing the next generation of leaders.

Today, as a certified mindfulness educator, she brings those threads together to teach responsible storytelling: telling the truth with care, humility, and accountability. She is the founder of Griots Sanctuary and the author of Truth Requires Practice: Becoming a Griot, coming in February 2027.

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A native of southern California, Jeffrey grew up near the Oregon coast among the Douglas Fir trees along the banks of the Columbia River. He is a former superintendent with the American Battle Monuments Commission for nearly 14 years in France and the Philippines, as well as an agency trainer of cultural heritage interpretation.

Michael W. Twitty is and has been a guide, interpreter, culinary historian, author, and food writer who has spent his career tracing the deep connections between food, ancestry, and identity. He's the creator of Afroculinaria, the first blog dedicated to African American historic foodways, and the author of several acclaimed books, including The Cooking Gene, which won the 2018 James Beard Award for Book of the Year and Best Writing, making him the first Black author to receive that honor. He followed it with Rice, KosherSoul (winner of the National Jewish Book Award), and his newest release, Recipes from the American South.

Twitty's work has taken him from the Smithsonian to Yale to the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, and he's shared his research on NPR's The Splendid Table, in the Washington Post, and across numerous television appearances, including High on the Hog, Taste the Nation, and Bizarre Foods America. He's a National Geographic Explorer, a TED Fellow, and was named to the TIME 100 Next list. He also teaches Judaic studies and writes widely on Jewish cultural identity, weaving together the African American and Jewish threads of his own heritage in everything he does.

Dr. Spencer R. Crew has worked in public history institutions for more than thirty years.  He is currently the Clarence J. Robinson Professor of History at George Mason University and Emeritus Director of the National Museum of African American History and the National Museum of American History.   

 Previous to Mason he served as president of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center for six years and worked at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution for twenty years.  Nine of those years, he served as the director of NMAH.  He served as the interim Director at the National Museum of African American History and Culture from July of 2019 until January of 2021. 

At each of those institutions, he sought to make history accessible to the public through innovative and inclusive exhibitions and public programs.  Crew has published extensively in the areas of African American and Public History. He also has curated numerous exhibitions the most recent one at the National Museum of African American History and Culture entitled “Make Good the Promises:  Reconstruction and Its Legacies.”  He is a graduate of Brown University and holds a master's degree and a doctorate from Rutgers University.  His most recent publication is Thurgood Marshall A Life in American History.

https://timfmerriman.podbean.com/

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Kimberly Kelly attended Catholic University Undergrad, and Parsons School of Design, Graduate School. She did further study at the University of North Carolina. She was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship for graduate Studies. She worked at the National Portrait Gallery, Arts and Industries Building, and National Museum of American History during her 30+ years at the Smithsonian Institution. She has performed Living History presentations for the Smithsonian, National Park Service, and Public Television. She has taught Living History at Universities in the area. She is an enrolled citizen of the Nottoway Tribe of Virginia. 

https://timfmerriman.podbean.com/

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Devon Headdress is a content creator, community health educator, and founder of BrightHawk Fitness LLC, now rebranding to Headdress Health, based in Molt, Montana.

His work centers Indigenous education, treaty rights, and sovereignty, with a focus on how policy and systems impact Native community health and wellness. As a graduate student studying Indigenous health policy, he bridges data, lived experience, and traditional knowledge to advocate for culturally grounded approaches to wellness.

Through social media storytelling and educational content, he amplifies Native voices and connects everyday listeners to the real-world impact of federal, state, and tribal policy on Indigenous communities.

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Julia Washburn is a native Washingtonian, recently retired from 35 years with America’s National Parks. Recently, Julia served as Superintendent of Rock Creek Park for six years. Previously, she was the National Park Service Associate Director for Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers. Julia started her career in 1989 after serving two years in the US Peace Corps as a volunteer science teacher in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Her first NPS job was as a park ranger at Fort Dupont Park in Southeast, DC. She has also worked at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, W.Va., the National Park Service’s National Capital Regional Office, and as Senior Vice President for Grants and Programs at the National Park Foundation. Julia has a master’s degree in museum education from Bank Street College of Education and taught as an adjunct in the Museum Education Program at George Washington University for 14 years. She and her husband, Bill, now live on a 118-acre farm in Western Massachusetts, where they practice permaculture and manage the property for wildlife habitat. After leaving the NPS, Julia attended perfume school in Italy. She also earned a diploma in aromatherapy from the American College of Healthcare Sciences. In 2026, she and her business partner launched Willow-Botanicals.com, a small business that makes all-natural perfumes, skincare, and aromatherapy products.

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This week on Reflections on Interpretation, Bill Gwaltney and Tim Merriman interview a musical performer and instructor who consistently receives rave reviews. Scott brings a wealth of musical and historical experience with him to the stage and the classroom. 

Coming of age during the Civil Rights era and the protests against the Vietnam War, Scott has a deep reverence for cross-cultural exchange and a strong commitment to social justice.

He is the author of Robert Johnson/At The Crossroads and video teacher on the instructional DVD, Robert Johnson: Signature Licks. In 2010, Acoustic Guitar featured Scott’s lesson on Robert Johnson’s music in its November issue. The article with TAB, transcription of Johnson’s Crossroads Blues, and sixteen minutes of video instruction is archived on their website at: http://acousticguitar.com.

 With six solo recordings to his credit, Scott’s award-winning The Last Shot Got Him has garnered strong reviews here and in Europe.

Join Tim Merriman and Bill Gwaltney as they talk story with Greg Gnesios about his diverse career in NPS, BLM and Orbridge Travel. For 27 years Greg was a ranger/naturalist with the National Park Service in places such as Pinnacles National Park and Pt. Reyes National Seashore, California; and Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico.  In the late 1970s he was a ranger in Canyonlands National Park. He moved to Grand Junction, Colorado in 2001 as the first manager of the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area.

He has since served as Chairman of the Board for the Colorado National Monument Association  and Byway Coordinator for the Dinosaur Diamond National Scenic Byway.  During the summer season, he leads tours throughout the west for various travel organizations. His award-winning photography has appeared in numerous journals, magazines, museum exhibits, calendars and books.

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