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Steve Rossio Local Historian/Youth Services Associate, Portage District Library
teve Rossio isn’t afraid to wear a toga. Back when his high school English teacher asked students to give a speech from one of Shakespeare’s plays, he did exactly that, climbing atop a desk and shouting out a scene from Julius Caesar. It wasn’t the best performance, he admits, but the students previously struggling to keep their eyelids open sat up and took notice. Rossio, employs that same creative method to bring history to life for the Portage community while doing approximately 30 presentations per year. “Why, when you go to speak publicly, do you have to make things boring?” Rossio asks. “I guess that’s why I keep getting asked to various venues. I’ve done presentations where college students are present and they’re like, 'Why aren’t you a college professor?'” Occasionally, Rossio catches flak from fellow historians who feel history shouldn’t be “sold.” His response: Just try standing there in a suit and tie droning on to a group of second graders about ethics and history — they’re gone in 30 seconds.
Brian Powers
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46 | ENCORE OCTOBER 2017