David Harrell is a keynote speaker, children’s book author, and professionally trained actor based in Savannah, Georgia. He was born without his right hand, and has spent his career turning that story into something that changes people.
His programs have reached students, educators, and audiences across the country, from school gymnasiums in New England to conference stages in the Deep South. Whether he’s performing a school assembly for second graders, delivering a keynote for a thousand educators, or speaking to college students at orientation, David brings the same thing every time: a true story, real humor, and a message that holds long after the event is over.
David’s grandfather used to tell him about his little league baseball team, “The Little Potatoes and Hard to Peel.” Smaller than the other kids. Maybe not as talented. But tough, and impossible to break down. David built his entire body of work around that idea, not as a slogan, but as a framework for how we all move forward through the things we didn’t choose and can’t control.
His award-winning middle grade novel A Little Potato and Hard to Peel was named Book of the Year by Story Monsters, earned a Finalist designation from the National Indie Excellence Book Awards, and received an Editor’s Pick from The Children’s Book Review. Kirkus Reviews called it “a funny and touching fictionalized true story with can-do optimism that is ultimately moving.”
David currently serves as Community Outreach Director for Camp No Limits, a national nonprofit that educates and empowers children and families living with limb loss and limb difference. He travels to camps across the country each year, working directly with the young people his message was written for.
He holds a BFA from the University of Southern Mississippi and an MFA in Theatre Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was honored by the Casting Society of America as one of the Top 20 Actors from underrepresented populations, and was a featured guest on the ABLE Voices Podcast at Berklee College of Music’s Institute for Accessible Arts Education.
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