STORYTELLER IS A MAN WITH A MISSION

His Yarns Warn Teens About Dangers Of Substance Abuse

Standing before a stack of garbage bags overflowing with stuffed animals
Wednesday, storyteller Alton Veil promised the students at Emerson High
School a tale that would make them both laugh and cry.

"I want to tell you a story that catches it all and has a goal," he said,
pausing for effect. "The end of the rainbow."

With that, Veil embarked on a mission that has directed his life for the
past six years -- teaching teenagers the dangers of substance abuse through
stories.

The message has a personal implication for Veil, who said he lost three of
his four brothers to drug addiction, and the fourth to alcoholism.

Veil said the only thing that saved him from a similar fate was an ulcer
that stopped him from drinking 45 years ago.

After he retired from a career as a writer and baker, Veil began touring
the country, spreading his message and often sleeping as a guest in the
jails and churches where he lectures.

In six years, he estimates he has visited 80 prisons, 70 Indian
reservations, hundreds of churches and "every alternative high school
within a 200-mile radius of Mount Vernon," where he lives.

Veil began his travels in a mobile home. When that broke down, he threw his
sleeping bag and stuffed animals into the back of a 1993 van that often
acts as both a vehicle and a home.

He tells hard stories and lighter ones, depending on his audience, and
distributes stuffed teddy bears and puppy dogs to teenagers one would not
normally associate with such items.

The 69-year-old Veil lives off of his retirement pension and doesn't take
money for his appearances. But he insists that he is not poor.

"I'm devoted to this," Veil said. "I'm never broke. I do fine."

Veil, who calls himself a missionary, said he separates church from state
and doesn't try to convert his teenage listeners.

At alternative schools, he focuses his efforts on preventing students from
following a path that could lead to prison.

"The motivation here is to keep them from going to where I really talk,"
Veil said.

Veil's visit to Emerson was his sixth trip to Mount Vernon's alternative
high school.

Many of the students greeted him enthusiastically and raved about Veil's
hard-hitting stories.

"Some of his stories are just like a slap in the face," said Jennifer
Scott, a 17-year-old senior at Emerson. "The stuff he's seen is so real."

Eighteen-year-old Zachary Clay said he appreciated the fact that Veil did
not sugarcoat his message.

"He taught me a lot," Clay said. "He has a big heart."

Veil thrives on such response. It is his primary payback for all the nights
he has spent in his van, all the miles he has traveled and all the brothers
he has lost to drug abuse.

"Do you see my highs?" Veil asked. "I don't need drugs or booze. I get up
on this stuff."