Memories Matter
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Life Story Links: November 27, 2018
Louis Armstrong’s personal archives, WWI stories passed through generations, and plenty of process talk including using Scrivener and reviving stalled memoirs.
“We all practice the craft of autobiography in our inner conversations with ourselves about the meaning of our experience, and those conversations, no matter what language we use, are fundamentally theological or philosophical. Though only a handful of us set about writing down the results and publishing them for others to read, we are all autobiographers.”
—Jill Ker Conway
Louis Armstrong and his wife Lucille in the den of their Corona, Queens, New York home; the jazz legend’s archives are now available online. PHOTO courtesy of Louis Armstrong Archive.
Stories Worth Sharing
LOUIS ARMSTRONG ARCHIVES
From handwritten playlists of his musical inspiration to scrapbooks of his life as it was lived (and as it was recorded in the newspapers), Louis Armstrong was a careful (and thorough) documentarian of his life. Now the full archives are accessible online.
VETERANS’ STORIES
In “The War Stories Their Families Never Forgot,” the New York Times collects memories of readers’ relatives who had a role in World War I—and the submissions are, unexpectedly, often uplifting.
THE ATTIC OF HISTORY
Sir Peter Jackson says he would be happy if his new war film inspires people to go rummaging around in their attics for old photos and letters, keen to piece together tales about grandfathers and ancient uncles who served in the first World War.
On People and Process
“TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF”
Terry Gross, considered by many to be a master interviewer, offers insights into how to talk to people. “As an interviewer, Ms. Gross’s goal is to find out how her subject became who they are; as a conversationalist, make that goal your own.”
SYSTEM TALK
In her latest podcast episode, Amy Woods Butler, aka The Life Story Coach, describes how she goes from interview transcript to book draft, including how Scrivener fits into her process.
A PROFESSIONAL’S PERSPECTIVE
About half Nancy West’s memoir clients are people who previously attempted writing their memoirs themselves. “They bogged down in telling very specific stories perfectly and comprehensively,” she says, “whereas I work like a journalist: facts first, then flesh it out.”
...and a Few More Links
Is deleting Facebook deleting your memories?
Ann Curry’s We’ll Meet Again returns to television.
Mickey Mouse gets the “life story” treatment on his 90th birthday.
New study shows our brains prioritize memories that are useful in making future decisions.
Short Takes
Life Story Links: November 12, 2018
Mid-story memoir sag, storyboarding as a writing tool, questions to spark Thanksgiving story sharing, and more of interest to family historians & memory-keepers
“Curiosity is a muscle. Questions are exercise.”
—M. Diane McCormick
1956. Photograph by Grey Villet for LIFE magazine. ©Time Inc.
Thoughts on Memoir…
THE LIBERATION OF MEMOIR
Beth Kephart celebrates Abigail Thomas, whose work, she says, laid the foundation for memoirists everywhere to set aside “perfect” in pursuit of authentic.
MID-STORY SAG
“Nearly all memoir writers hit a point where they ask: What is this thing about? Where did I think I was going with this story?” writes Lisa Dale Norton in her prescriptive piece about how to avoid mid-story memoir sag.
YOUR STORY, YOUR WAY
“Let people find out how interesting you are through your own words, not when your children tell stories about you because you’re gone,” urges Massachusetts–based personal historian Nancy West.
…and Sharing Stories Out Loud
FAMILY HISTORY MATTERS
In this podcast, Heidi Druckemiller suggests that the story of your past can help you to discover your family’s unique values, shape its moral purpose, and direct its strategic decision-making.
HOLIDAY HISTORIES
This week I wrote about four ways to encourage guests at your family gathering to share memories in addition to gratitude, plus offered up 55 Questions to spark Thanksgiving story sharing.
NEXT GEN
Cider Spoon Stories offers a workbook for kids that guides them through the oral storytelling process, helping them to capture in their own words the stories of family members and friends
...and a Few More Links
Humanity has direct memories of events that occurred 10 millennia ago.
Check out the slides from M. Diane McCormick’s Hippocamp 2018 presentation, “The Art of Interviewing: The Deep Dive for the Telling Detail.”
Using storyboarding to help know what to emphasize and what to cut from your biographical writing
Google and YouTube team up with StoryCorps to tell veterans’ stories.
Short Takes
Life Story Links: October 29, 2018
Plenty of first person and personal history reading, from stories of survival told through artifacts of memory to veteran experiences that honor and connect.
“Love is so short, forgetting so long.”
—Pablo Neruda
Kid's Bubble-Blowing Toy, 1959. Photograph by Stan Wayman for LIFE magazine. ©Time Inc.
Seeing Is Believing
OBJECT. IMAGE. MEMORY.
“A photo album, a china set, a teddy bear—even the most quotidian of artifacts—all resonate with special poignancy when associated with stories of persecution and loss,” Julia M. Klein writes of a Skokie, IL, museum exhibition called “Stories of Survival.”
BLURRY IS BEAUTIFUL
Blurry photos are often the first to get deleted from your film scroll—but photographer Yan Palmer offers up another perspective.
FILM REVIEW
I finally found time to screen the 2012 documentary Stories We Tell, and I recommend it as much for the dramatic exploration of one family's narrative as for the questions it raises about the malleability of truth.
Life Stories, Listening & Telling
#THEGREATLISTEN
In its 15th year StoryCorps continues to “create a culture of listening that echoes across the nation.” Resources compiled for its annual Great Thanksgiving Listen include a Great Questions List and Interview Planning Worksheet.
“THE ROLLING NOW”
Sarah White of Madison–based First Person Productions shares a short essay she calls an experiment in “The Rolling Now,” a structural technique described as "like rocking back and forth between past and present."
A LIVING TRIBUTE
The new National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio, which opened October 27, highlights personal stories of veterans from all branches of the military to inspire, honor, and connect.
CONFESSIONAL STORYTELLING
“I used to reassure prospective clients that they could simply leave out any personal stories that were too difficult to tell, says Massachusetts–based personal historian Nancy West. “But the more people share with me, the more I begin to think that nothing is too difficult for clients to share, once they become comfortable with the process.”
...and a Few More Links
The earliest memory in the first person testimonies of The HistoryMakers dates to the 1700s.
Kickstart your family history project with this November 14 webinar from archivist Margot Note.
In The Library of Congress’s new National Screening Room you can watch hundreds of hours of cinematic history for free, with films from 1890-1999.
Town & Country: “From Gates to Rockefeller, Wealthy Families Hire Personal Historians to Preserve Their Legacy”
Short Takes
Life Story Links: October 17, 2018
Stories on staying curious including a conversation starter card deck & ideas for family interviews, plus digging into family history via photos and stories.
PHOTO: Wallenda Family Album Picture, 1962. Photographed by Robert W. Kelley for LIFE magazine. ©Time Inc.
“Here’s the deal. The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed—to be seen, heard, and companioned exactly as it is.”
—Parker J. Palmer
Stay Curious
AGING IN NYC
A longtime social worker and photographer turns his lens on seniors out and about in the Big Apple, and his interest invites stories from all walks of life.
STORY CATCHER CONVERSATION STARTERS
A holiday gift idea, perhaps? Tree of Life Legacies’ April Bell has introduced the Life Legacy Card Deck with 52 prompts for values-based storytelling.
LET’S TALK
Conducting family interviews is a great way to gather the stories of family elders and preserve family history for the next generation—here, four ideas to get you going.
Digging in to Family History
THE ONLY TRUE STORY
“Humans love stories, and genealogy is essentially a gradual reading of the grandest, most compelling story of all time,” Roman Kraft writes in his ode to discovering family history.
ONE BOX AT A TIME
Denise Levenick, aka The Family Curator, describes how to use “the parking lot system” to organize old photos in your family collection.
BBC’S “FAMILY FOOTSTEPS”
An Ulster-Scots family goes on a journey back in time to discover what life was like for their ancestors at the turn of the 19th century.
YOUR HISTORY…OR YOU’RE HISTORY?
“With both of my parents gone it is getting much harder to collect the stories from their lives,” writes Jay Lenkersdorfer in a local newspaper column. “Each memory is perishable and should be treated as though it will soon expire...”
...and a Few More Links
A new website aims to build a database of music that's effective at triggering memories for dementia patients.
Storytelling as a form of healing
An in-depth review of Kiese Laymon’s “startlingly open” and “raw” new memoir, Heavy
Short Takes
Life Story Links: October 2, 2018
A roundup chock-full of life story stuff, from sharing painful memories to honoring a mother's legacy, plus pro tips on talking about money & managing workflows.
“Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It’s transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It’s uplifting, it’s encouraging, it’s strengthening.”
—Aretha Franklin
PHOTOGRAPH: Old time fiddling at Bernie Rasmussen's in Polson, Montana, July 22, 1979, from the Montana Folklife Survey collection at the Library of Congress.
Battle Scars
BRUISES AND ALL
“I understand that sharing difficult experiences is decidedly not for everyone,” writes Chicago–based personal historian Betsy Storm. “But nobody can underestimate the power of such stories to lift others up from their own tender and painful places.”
THE RELUCTANT INTERVIEWEE
This week I review the 1996 documentary Nobody’s Business, in which Alan Berliner interviews his (rather pugnacious!) father about family history. You’ll laugh and you’ll cringe at their father-son interplay.
On the Front Lines of History
OBJECT LESSONS
Check out Your Story Our Story, a national project exploring American immigration and migration through a crowd-sourced collection of stories about everyday objects of personal significance.
MOON MAN
Neil Armstrong’s personal papers land at Purdue, his alma mater, including approximately 70,000 pages of fan mail, which Armstrong continued to receive from around the world for years after he landed on the moon. (Archivists: Imagine the time it took to catalog this “finding guide” to the collection!)
Memories that Matter
IN REMEMBRANCE OF 朱苏勤
“She knew only two people who speak English fluently—myself and my father. Not able to tell her story herself, I want to use my voice to tell it for her,” writes Li Jin in “Saying Goodbye to My Grandmother.”
AN APP FOR THAT?
In the hope that preserving “one memory at a time” is less daunting for some than writing a “life story,” I explored digital story sharing services in my latest guest post for The Photo Organizers.
STORIES OF OUR STUFF
In What We Keep, 150 people share touching stories behind their most prized possessions. Read three excerpts here, and listen to co-author Bill Shapiro talk about how things become imbued with memories and meaning.
Pro Tips
UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES
Massachusetts–based personal historian Nancy West offers suggestions for looking at your life through a thematic lens. As she writes, “You might be surprised to find out that your life story has governing themes that go well beyond a simple linear list of dates and places.”
THAT (DREADED?) MONEY CONVERSATION
“Life story work is ‘heart-driven’ work, and like other service-oriented professions, it attracts people who may not feel comfortable with the money-making side of their business,” says Amy Woods Butler, founder of the Story Scribe in Kansas City. In the latest episode of her podcast she talks with educator and memoirist Sarah White about money matters.
...and a Few More Links
Is the ‘real you’ a myth? A medical take on the nature of memory
Museum educator discovers unexpected family ties to the place he works.
You don’t have to travel to D.C. or peruse 838 miles of shelves to visit the Library of Congress.
For life story professionals interested in creating efficient systems, download this free guide for creative entrepreneurs on Systems, Automation & Workflow (full disclosure: I authored one of the articles!).
A helpful and thorough comparison of print on-demand services
Short Takes
Life Story Links: September 18, 2018
Tangible memories, truth's elusivity in memoir, an autobiographical essay collection, a free chapter of "Your Meaning Legacy,” & a chance at a free writing book.
“All she ever wanted was to be remembered. And she understood that memories happened in the mind but also in the heart.”
—Michelle Gable, I’ll See You in Paris
“Kim Sisters” photographed by Robert W. Kelley for Life magazine. ©Time Inc. Many of the millions of photographs from the LIFE Photo Archive, from the 1750s to today, are available for non-commercial use.
Tangible Memories
TRANSPORTED BY MEMORABILIA
Massachusetts–based personal historian Nancy West writes about how something as prosaic as a paper placemat can bring back evocative and powerful memories of time spent at her grandparents’ Colorado cabin.
BLESSING OR BURDEN?
“Keeping everything honors nothing!” Don’t let your most precious photos and memorabilia become a burden to the next generation. The team at the Family Narrative Project has valuable advice to help you sort your memory-laden stuff.
SUITCASE OF TALISMANS JOURNEYS TO ISRAEL
Stacy Derby of Bind These Words in Chicago went above and beyond to help a client gift an invaluable piece of her family's history to the National Library of Israel. (Use Google Translate in your browser to read in English.)
Writing, Remembering, Reading
MEMOIR: THE ART OF THE SUPPOSE
“The truth is elusive, but don’t let that defeat you. Let truth’s elusivity galvanize you toward the deep dive for the facts, the shimmery details, the startle of a color red or a wind storm or a mother’s muffins,” said writer Beth Kephart in her opening address at HippoCamp 2018.
BOOK REVIEW
“We all have different versions of ourselves, depending on the story,” Mimi Schwartz writes in her autobiographical essay collection, When History Is Personal. Read a review here.
IT COMES DOWN TO STORY
Last week I attended Narrative Medicine Rounds in NYC to hear physician and writer Haider Warraich, MD, talk about “The Search for Beauty at the End of Life.”
YOUR MEANING LEGACY
Legacy planning expert Laura A. Roser offers a step-by-step guide to cultivating, capturing, and passing on non-financial assets such as values, wisdom, and beliefs in her new book. Download the first chapter here.
NYACK RECORD SHOP PROJECT
Listen to history: “Two chairs, a microphone, a few questions and a 30-minute hourglass-style timer. When the sands ran out, the interview was over. Some interviews began with the line: ‘Tell us your story.‘ And that was enough to get the ball rolling and the personal history flowing.”
...and a Few More Links
Lifetime of family memories commemorated through art
Five tips for historical research, from uncovering local history to plotting your family tree
Storytelling connects children with history, families and each other.
Actress Sally Field’s new memoir reveals a personal history that she has never shared before.
Enter by October 1st for a chance to win a free, signed copy of Helen Sword's The Writer's Diet.
Short Takes
Life Story Links: September 3, 2018
Opportunities for life story tellers including a memoir class, writing contest, & volunteering with seniors; plus, gratitude journals & digital photo archives.
“The past is never dead. It's not even past.”
—William Faulkner
Hal B. Fullerton. 1899. Cranberry bog and drain in Calverton, Suffolk County, NY. Gelatin silver print, part of the Empire State Digital Network accessed via the Digital Public Library of America. All of the materials found through DPLA—photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and so much more—are free and immediately available in digital format.
Some Storytelling Inspiration
PUBLIC ARCHIVE
Graduate students in the Public and Digital History Seminar at UT Austin experimented with ways to make interesting archival materials available and useful to anyone with a computer. Check out the fruits of their labor, including photographs of the frontier and the paperwork of slavery.
ON GROWING OLD
“I just said goodbye to one of my clients,” Virginia–based personal historian Karen Bender writes. “Flo, 97 and on hospice, is going to live with her daughter in a different state for whatever time she has left.” Bender shares what “old age” means to Flo, from the book they worked on together.
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL GRATITUDE JOURNAL
Not all the life story projects Massachusetts–based Nancy West produces are traditional narrative memoirs: Here she shines a light on how to use photos to create a gratitude journal.
Opportunity Knocks
THE MAKING OF A FAMILY HISTORIAN
Wisconsin–based personal historian and educator Mary Patricia Voell offers a new online course designed to give participants of all ages the framework and tools to tackle their family history projects.
ARCHIVAL STORYTELLING
The New York Times is hiring a team “to exhume the photographs and stories that had been relegated to the dustbins of history and to explore anew the stories left untold.” Interested?
WRITING CONTEST
The Family Narrative Project is seeking entries for its 2018 writing contest: Submit essays that reflect the full range of family life by October 31 for a chance to win $500 plus a feature on their website.
VOLUNTEER WITH SENIORS
Check out the important work being done by Brittany Bare and her team at nonprofit My Life, My Stories, where marginalized seniors are paired with volunteers to help write their own memoirs. While in-person volunteering is currently only available in the San Francisco Bay area, there are other ways to help, too.
...and a Few More Links
Have you discovered the Digital Public Library of America yet?
My guest blog for Save Your Photos Month is about how to find what matters amidst all your digital clutter.
Foundation strives to put “a face” on history for younger generations
Podcast recommendations for life storytellers, creative entrepreneurs, oral historians, and anyone who loves a captivating first person story.
Short Takes
Life Story Links: August 21, 2018
The importance of oral traditions, why interviewing subjects in a familiar environment elicits the best stories, family history resources & more memoirish links.
“In books lies the soul of the whole past time: the articulate audible voice of the past.”
—Thomas Carlyle
During a weekend trip to our nation’s capital, I escaped the oppressive heat in the Library of Congress and found inspiration at every turn. The next line of this quote from Thomas Carlyle reads: “the articulate audible voice of the past.” Indeed.
Places in the Heart
READING TILL THE END
“Papa left the summer I turned eight.” Cinella Barnes, who tells the story of her tragic childhood in her memoir Monsoon Mansion, reads excerpts from her book to her hospitalized father in this moving essay on the power of memory and questions left unanswered.
HIBAKUSHA EXPERIENCE
As the only country that has ever suffered nuclear attacks in war, Japan has a responsibility to ensure that memories of what Hiroshima and Nagasaki went through will be passed on to future generations.
ON LOCATION
Clinton Haby of San Antonio–based StoryKeeping prefers to conduct interviews in subjects’ homes when possible, setting the interviewee at ease and capturing a familiar environment for loved ones.
Family History Takes
ODE TO ORAL TRADITIONS
“Those stories, even if they are embellished in the retelling, make a statement: This is who we are. And we remember.”
AN APPALACHIAN ODYSSEY
A genealogist and a neurologist hunt for ALS genes along a sprawling family tree. “What makes [their] work pleasurable is also what makes it hard: Tracking familial disease meant tracking families, and every branch is complicated in its own way.”
BOOKMARK THIS
Last week I offered up a curated list of resources for the genealogist who cares about story.
Paper Trails
BOOKISH NOTES
“All we talk about...is books—your book, my book, this book, that book,” writes Sarah White of First Person Productions in Madison, WI, who shares takeaways from her creative nonfiction residency in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
INSIDE AN INHERITED DIARY
Carol McLaren of Arizona–based Unique Life Stories ruminates on inherited diaries & letters as windows to the past.
...and a Few More Links
Understanding vernacular photography: collecting found photos
Reuniting stumped readers with the books from the edges of their memories—a delightful read for library lovers everywhere
A bundle of old negatives provides a connection to immigrant ancestors and a vision of what Buffalo, NY, looked like generations ago.
Short Takes