Norman Stiles

In 1964 Norman graduated from Hunter College in the Bronx, achieving a “C” average in his pre-med studies, and dashing his mother’s dream of being able to say, “My son, the doctor.” 

In 1970, he managed to wrangle a job writing for Sesame Street, and over the next 7 years, he became Head Writer, wrote the script about Mr. Hooper’s death, created The Count, Forgetful Jones and other characters, wrote and co-wrote several books and many songs, (“Put Down the Ducky”). He eventually left Sesame Street to work in Hollywood with Mel Brooks as a co-creator on “When Things Were Rotten.”  When the show was cancelled after 13 weeks, he lingered in LA, co-writing episodes for various situation comedies, etc. misplaced his mind and got a pretty nice tan.  Thankfully he was welcomed back as Head Writer of Sesame Street in 1980, and returned to New York where he was soon reunited with his sanity  

In 1996 he left Sesame Street to co-found of Sirius Thinking Ltd., which created, “Between the Lions,” a half hour PBS TV show designed to teach reading to children ages 4-7 that was co-produced with WGBH.  In 2008 Sirius created and produced 13 episodes of “Lomax, the Hound of Music,” a music education show for preschoolers, which aired on PBS Plus. 

He is proud to have received several Emmy awards for hi work on Sesame Street and Between the Lions, WGA’s Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence and Mentoring, and other honors over the years. He served on the Board of Easter Seals New York.

Recently Norman transitioned from words to define a new visual language in concrete that he laces with fiberglass fibers, embeds with salvaged industrial iron and found metals, and colors with stain to create sculptural paintings.

In 2012 he began helping his friend, Chris Pellettieri, put his vision of passing on and preserving the ancient art of carving stone by hand into words.  As they worked together creating a PowerPoint presentation, Norman was moved by Chris’s dream and he became a true believer, and when Chris asked him to join the board, he eagerly accepted the chance to help the Academy achieve its mission.