Life Story Links: November 5, 2019
“This has always been one of the cardinal problems of biography: to what extent can or should one tell the truth—and what, indeed, is the truth about any of us?”
—Iris Origo
Children playing on a front lawn in Washington, D.C., September 1935. Photographed by Carl Mydans, courtesy Office of War Information, Overseas Picture Division, via Library of Congress.
Foods of the Soul
THE LAST LAUGH
Over at The Family Narrative Project, Kim Winslow shares some flavorful tidbits from a relative’s repertoire—just remember to imagine Nana’s heavy Brooklyn accent, too.
“A CATHARTIC DINNER PARTY”
“Food can be such a lovely way into the heart of a story…. There's something about the sensory memories that really can pull us back into our childhood, or things we ate in times of celebration, or times of grief,” says Natalie Eve Garrett, editor of Eat Joy: Stories & Comfort Food from 31 Celebrated Writers, a book of personal essays, each paired with the “gift” of an associated recipe.
Matters of Memoir…
AN END-OF-YEAR-LIST TO BOOKMARK
Did your favorite make the cut in this list of the best memoirs of the past decade? I found my next few reads on the list, and enjoyed the critics’ comments on what distinguished each one.
MOTHER TONGUE
“It was my way of saying, ‘Yes, I know I’m married to English now, but Spanish was my first love.’” Reyna Grande on translating her own memoir into Spanish.
…Matters of Memory
VR REMINISCENCE THERAPY
When an eldercare team used Google Earth and virtual reality technology to ‘bring’ a patient with dementia back to her hometown in Sweden, the results were extraordinary: “She lit up with joy. She was smiling and pointing at the images. She started talking in her native language as she was touring us through the building.”
LIKE A SCRAPBOOK?
When I describe what I do to new friends, there is almost inevitably an excited reaction of, “How great, I never heard of that!” followed by genuine interest and lots of questions. One of the most common misassumptions is that I create photo books or scrapbooks for folks—so I decided to tackle that in last week’s blog post.
BLACK IN THE DAY
“The documentation of everyday moments and rituals led by Black British photographers allows us to look into the communities across the UK in a way that centers just being, rather than aiming to appease a white, mainstream gaze that often projects its own ideas of Blackness.”
All Is Not Lost
RADICAL EULOGY
“I have chosen to honor my family but also to honor my own experience as well—reconciling our differences and needs,” poet Diana Khoi Nguyen says about writing about her grief in the aftermath of her brother’s suicide.
SLAVERY, THE ORIGINAL IDENTITY THEFT
“To honor the memory, sacrifice, and very being of our ancestors, we say their name.” One woman feels called by her forebears to unearth her African American origins. Follow her journey.
...and a Few More Links
An excerpt from Still Here: The Madcap, Nervy, Singular Life of Elaine Stritch
Holocaust Museum honors Westchester woman whose documentary tells of grandfather’s survival
Shining a light on book arts in DC
Kinship is celebrating New York History Month with a discount on their NY genealogy books.
Patricia Highsmith’s private diaries to be published as a book
Cookbooks as memoir-like “souvenirs of experience”
Short Takes
