AWARD-WINNING Author
Peg Guilfoyle
Writer and speaker Peg Guilfoyle is the originator and writer of the wide-ranging Motley Peg small essay series. Her book The Guthrie Theater: Images, History, and Inside Stories won the Midwest Book Award and the Independent Publisher’s Award. Her two volumes of narrative genealogy are available on Kindle: The Condons and the Gradys From Ireland to America: History, Essay, and Genealogy, and The Van Wagners in America 1637-1943: History, Essay, and Genealogy. She is also the author of Offstage Voices: Life in Twin Cities Theater, and The Basilica of Saint Mary: Voices From A Landmark.
Her company, Peg Projects, has produced histories for YMCA Camp du Nord, Northern Star Boy Scout Council, Gustavus Adolphus College (2 volumes), Plymouth Congregational Church, and the Minnesota Telecom Alliance; these books have won numerous awards, including the Minnesota Book Award.
Her commentary has appeared in newspapers and other publications, and on Minnesota Public Radio; she has spoken widely on the Guthrie Theater.
Peg was the original ‘first employee’ at COMPAS (Community Programs in the Arts and Sciences) in St. Paul for Molly (LaBerge) Taylor, coordinating the Poets in the Schools program and managing residency programs in many arts disciplines and communities. Her arts vocabulary is wide-ranging.
With extensive volunteer leadership and board work, including Mounds Park Academy and White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church, Peg’s interests are wide and varied. They include gospel music (6 years singing with Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir under Robert Robinson), vintage carousel carvings, antique collections, small craft cruising (Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers, Lake Michigan, and East Coast), youth and young adult leadership, vintage Oz books, and all forms of art.
Peg Guilfoyle spent ten years as production stage manager and production manager for artistic directors Liviu Ciulei and Garland Wright at the Guthrie Theater, where, she says, both her aesthetic and her work ethic were formed.
She has been the producing director for the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota, responsible for producing and managing all public performance and community engagement events on six stages, including the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, docked on Harriet Island in St. Paul. Her work for the University included negotiating contracts on its behalf, and consulting on grant evaluations.
Peg has been a freelance stage and production manager for the Ordway Music Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Arizona Theatre Company, Elitch Theatre Company star stock, and others.
She is a board member emeritus of the Friends of the University Libraries, and served three terms on the Skyway Governance Advisory Committee of the Capitol River Council in Saint Paul. She has also been a member of the Advisory Committee for the Lowertown Future Fund, and is the founder of downtown’s Skyway Walkers and Silent Book Club.
Peg lives in downtown St. Paul with husband Dr. John Baillie.
Highlights, Awards & Honors
as writer
- My greatest achievement is my dedicated group of Motley Peg readers, a curious, observant, and widespread group that seeks joy, beauty and wonder everywhere they go. I am honored that they follow my own journeys through this complex and splendid world.
- Midwest Book Award, The Guthrie Theater: Images, History and Inside Stories
- Independent Publisher’s Award, The Guthrie Theater: Images, History and Inside Stories
as project director
- two Midwest Book Awards, Gustavus Adolphus College: 150 Years of Images and Stories
- Minnesota Book Award Reader’s Choice, Honor Bright: A Century of Scouting in Northern Star Council
- Midwest Book Award finalist, Minnesota Telecom Alliance: A Century of Connections
- Congregational Denomination Award, Plymouth Congregational Church: Walking Together in All God’s Ways
Featured On & In
–Sportswriter Red Smith
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© Peg Guilfoyle