
Dave Finnigan was 34 and in the midst of his PhD program at the University
of Washington when he took three tennis balls to the woods and taught
himself to juggle. Dave immediately realized that juggling was not only
good exercise and a model for learning other skills, but that it provided
a burst of self-confidence for the learner. He started going around
to conferences and schools as "Professor Confidence," conducting
exciting and challenging instructional programs and teaching adults
and children to juggle with slow moving nylon scarves and beanbags.
Dave has traveled the world presenting his programs. He has written
the definitive book on juggling, The Complete Juggler, at 588 pages
considered to be the "bible" for juggling. It has been translated
into five languages and has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. Juggletime,
Dave's musical children's video series, has won twelve national awards
including a Parent's Choice award. His video, The Juggling Lesson, was
featured on Showtime nationwide. The Joy of Juggling, a book and video
combination, is sold in toy stores everywhere. His novel, The Zen of
Juggling, is a "cult classic" among fellow jugglers. In 2002
Human Kinetics published Juggling from Start to Star, which Dave co-authored
with his children, Dorothy and Ben.
Aside from books and videos, Dave has personally taught over one million
people to juggle in the US and Canada, Germany, England, France, Spain,
Brazil, Panama, Korea, Japan and the Philippines. He travels throughout
the school year, visiting about 100 schools each year in about twenty
states with his full day program, which ends with Family Juggling Night
each evening. When in a school he teaches every teacher, every student
and every parent how to juggle.
When not teaching juggling in schools Dave is in demand as a speaker
at conferences where he has presented over 200 times, in 28 states and
3 Canadian provinces. At conventions Dave loves to serve as a keynote
speaker, treating participants to a flood of excitement as they joyously
break through to successful juggling with colorful nylon scarves. His
largest class so far had over 3,400 participants. Dave has appeared
on dozens of TV shows from Mike Douglas to Regis Philbin. His work has
been featured in Money, Smithsonian, and Sports Illustrated. Dave's
juggling peers recognized his work in 1991 by naming him the first recipient
of the Excellence in Education Award of the International Jugglers Association.
Dave is a professional motivational speaker/educator who presents humorous,
dynamic, experiential programs in which participants learn to juggle
with nylon scarves, improving their coordination and self-confidence.
He offers juggling workshops for teachers and presents classes in schools
for students of all levels of ability from beginner through expert and
from kindergarten through college.