Thomas S. Curren is a writer, author, farmer, conservationist, historian, and musician who wrote the book, "ALL JOIN HANDS", Dudley Laufman & The New England Country Dance Tradition.

Thomas Curren discusses his motivation to write this book about Dudley Laufman and how honored Thomas was to hear Dudley's stories, write a biography, and be so delighted Dudley Laufman loved the book!

We discussed who Dudley Laufman is and the wonderful contributions Dudley has made to honor contra dance traditions, what contradance music is, the history of contradance, folk music, and how music and dancing bring people together in a community! Dudley Laufman received the NEA's National Heritage Fellowship Award in 2009, the nation's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts!

This is a very interesting interview and Betsy learned so much from reading "ALL JOIN HANDS ". Betsy highly recommends reading "ALL JOIN HANDS " to learn about Dudley Laufman and his wonderful contributions and how he kept this centuries-old music and dancing alive in New England and beyond!

For more information: How Music and Dancing can help bring people together