Life Story Links: September 5, 2023

“Writing memoir is one way to explore how you became the person you are and the story of how you got from here to there. Believe me, it’s a good story.”
—Abigail Thomas

Vintage poster promoting literacy produced by the Work Projects Administration; image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Digital Collection. The posters were designed to publicize exhibits, community activities, theatrical productions, and health and educational programs in seventeen states and the District of Columbia between 1936 to 1943.

Legacies in film

MOVING PICTURES
After watching the British TV show After Life with Ricky Gervais, Montreal–based personal historian Iris Wagner reflected on the enduring impact of videos from departed loved ones.

KEEPER OF STORIES
Texas–based legacy filmmaker Clinton Haby says he approaches his work “with a mindset that it’s sacred, and that future generations are going to want to be consuming this so that they understand where they come from.” Listen in as he talks to podcast host Willie Downs about video storytelling and creating bridges across generations.:

HISTORICAL SELECTIVITY & NARRATIVE
How “two small but potent nonfiction forebears”—documentary films that probe the life and times of those who worked on the original atomic bomb—compare to the blockbuster film by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer.

Memories made permanent

HOME SWEET HOME
Did you ever go on a family vacation and plan to make a travel memory book…then never get to it? Last week I shared my top three tips for things to do when you return home to set you up for memory-keeping success later—even if ‘later’ takes a while to come!

LIGHTENING THE LOAD OF FAMILY HEIRLOOMS
“What if we skip the proverbial guilt trip we create by unloading our stuff on our family, intentionally or not, and instead make a plan that will allow everyone to enjoy a trip down memory lane instead?”

THE ACCIDENTAL MEMOIR
“My mother always told us to bring back stories from wherever we went, and the Bronx—what I call the ‘no B.S.’ borough—taught me not to be full of crap, nor full of myself,” says Peter Quinn, author of the memoir Cross Bronx: A Writing Life.