Memories Matter
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Life Story Links: February 18, 2025
Dawn Roode’s curated roundup for February 18, 2025, includes a plethora of stories of interest to legacy keepers, plus some poignant and fun short takes.
“If writing seems too onerous…just making a voice memo on your phone every now and then, wherever you are, just saying some random memory, I guarantee that in two years you won’t regret having those recordings to listen to.”
—Anderson Cooper
Vintage Valentine’s postcard depicting an illustrated cherub, from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
Preserving memories for posterity
GIFTS GALORE
I am a big proponent of anytime gifts—why should we wait for a birthday or holiday to show those we love just how much they are cherished? Last week I shared a carefully curated guide of my favorite sentimental gifts at every price point.
REVISIONIST HISTORY?
“In child-rearing, like in memoir writing, there’s something to be said for controlling the narrative. ‘You owe them the truth,’ he says of kids and readers, ‘but not all at once.’”
‘STORIES ARE MADE OF MOMENTS’
Wisconsin–based personal historian Sarah White shares how to turn simple memories into compelling stories by understanding “the difference between an always and a once.”
A SERIOUSLY LUCKY PEN PAL
I’m a sucker for a book preserving interesting correspondence, and when it’s fabulously illustrated correspondence by the likes of Edward Gorey, I’m all in. Discover unique graphic excerpts from the book From Ted to Tom: The Illustrated Envelopes of Edward Gorey:
BEYOND THE PERSONA
“Part of my job is to make connections between things [my subjects] have done…in their early life…and challenges they might have as adults.” Listen in as celebrity ghostwriter Nick Chiles discusses the process of writing in someone else’s voice (this episode isn’t new, but worth sharing):
LAST WORDS
“What is the last word of a dying person? It amounts to some final articulation of consciousness (and not just a word, by the way) that passes through a closing window of interaction.”
Extraordinary lives, extraordinary stories
A PROFILE IN SIX ACTS
Denzel Washington “breaks it all down, in his own words, to the moments that mattered and the experiences that made him.” This as-told-to magazine feature is a great example of letting a person’s voice shine through.
DIARIES OF A MONTY PYTHON VETERAN
“People ask me, ‘What do you want on your tombstone?’ I want one that says, ‘Gone to lunch.’ To be silly after I’m dead—that’s quite important, I think.”
REFLECTING HER GENERATION’S HISTORY
Listen in as New York Times bestselling writer Francine Prose talks about her first work of memoir, 1974: A Personal History:
‘GRIPPING STORY OF SURVIVAL’
A Child in Berlin shares the true story of a young girl and her mother during the fall of Nazi Germany. “Today at 88 years old, that young girl still recalls it all in vivid detail, including the final days of the war, and surviving on her own in a bombed-out apartment building.” Author Rhonda Lauritzen and subject Heidi Posnien on the five-year journey of capturing her story:
Short takes
Life Story Links: February 4, 2025
This week’s curated roundup has plenty of recent stories of interest to family historians, personal biographers, memoirists, and memory-keepers of all kinds.
“True memoir emerges like a beast from the gut and the heart, and it’s the writer’s job to tame it, to get to know it, to dance with it—until it becomes a more palpable and ultimately beautiful creature that we feel prepared, if not totally ready, to share with the world.”
—Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D.
Vintage postcard of a well-dressed couple in a row boat on a lakeshore, postmarked 1920, from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
Out now…
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
“I lived in their world through the written word, and I felt this piercing, restless, furious longing for other people’s lives.” Read an excerpt (I recommend doing so on your computer or tablet, not a phone) from This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir by Kay Sohini.
VIETNAM: THE WAR THAT CHANGED AMERICA
“‘Sometime this year, you will go crazy, maybe more than once,’ a veteran remembers being told upon arriving in the distant land few had even heard of.” New six-part docuseries leans heavily on personal accounts to tell story of Vietnam War.
HISTORY, ANCESTRY, AND FOOD
Praisesong for The Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks “was a wonderful rabbit hole of digging into my own familial history through court records and family photographs as well as delving into the history of Appalachia and the history of foodways in the region.”
International Holocaust remembrance
‘WHY SHOULD THEY CARE?’
“One day we are going to be the ancestors that our grandchildren study, so what story do you want them to tell? Hopefully one where we protected our neighbors and not just ourselves. History is important, but only if we let it be a call to action today.”
THE HIDDEN HOLOCAUST PAPERS
Timothy Taylor pieces together his once-prominent German-Jewish family’s story, determined to honor their memory and give voice to those silenced. Through letters, diaries, and artifacts, The Hidden Holocaust Papers explores loss, survival, and the enduring impact of history on future generations. Listen to a preview below, and read how 10,000 pages of documents sent him on a journey through Germany’s dark past.
A TOOLBOX TO UPHOLD THE TRUTH
A new UNESCO report warns that generative AI could distort the historical record of the Holocaust and fuel antisemitism. Their new guide provides pedagogical principles and practical strategies to support teachers and journalists; what you need to know.
A CHOICE: DREAMS OR CONSCIENCE?
“I would ask my mother, ‘Where are they all going?’ She said, ‘They're taking them to the workhouses.’ All of our good friends and some of the children that I played with were disappearing.” An interview with the subject of A Child in Berlin, written by Utah–based personal biographer Rhonda Lauritzen.
The craft of life writing
BEGIN WITH A LIST
Lists as prompts have been in my arsenal for years, and I love this very short post from Beth Kephart with ideas and inspiration on the topic. “The words on your lists are tiny engines. The sentences you write will motor forward, or detour. No one is watching. Write as you wish. Write silly. Write loud. Write plaintive. There’s only one rule: Write you.”
‘THE COBBLER OF MEMORIES’
As AI gets better and more accessible, will there still be a need for in-person story sharing services offered by personal biographers and historians? My take? Yes, of course—and here’s why.
CONNECTING THE DOTS
“Don’t try to force your story into any particular shape. The point is just that you’re working deliberately and charting a path with intention. Some ‘arcs’ are not arcs at all but zig-zags, spirals, reverse arcs, etc.” Bonny Reichert on how to find your memoir’s narrative arc.
...and a few more links
Inspiration for making a junk journal (the next wave of memory-keeping?) from Artifact Uprising, and here, from Popsugar
How to restore and prepare an old family photo album or scrapbook for long-term preservation
“Fires destroyed your family photos. Here are some ways to restore those memories”
Robert Frank’s The Americans is “a historical document and a landmark in American culture.”
Short takes
Life Story Links: January 21, 2025
From upcoming memoirs of note to guidance on the craft of personal history, this week’s curated roundup is filled with reads of interest to family historians.
“To share our stories is not only a worthwhile endeavor for the storyteller, but for those who hear our stories and feel less alone because of it.”
—Joyce Maynard
Vintage postcard with illustration of the “little church round the way” in New York , circa 1907, from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
Lessons from notable chroniclers
TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF MEMOIR
“When the writing was flagging and I wasn’t sure how to forge ahead, I would return to photographs, diaries and letters, as a way of keeping the past alive, and also reminding me of things forgotten.” Lily Dunn on the messy and rewarding dance between memory and meaning in memoir.
WRITING CRAFT LESSON
“Structure is a container, of sorts, a container that teaches our readers how to read our books, and also, perhaps, how to read us.” Beth Kephart ruminates on the structuring of essays, memoirs, and stories.
PROMPTS AT THE READY
So you finally find a stretch of uninterrupted time to write…and when you sit down, you draw a blank. Has that ever happened to you? This simple idea—keeping a notebook of self-generated writing prompts—will keep your ideas flowing.
Beyond legacy
FILM BIOGRAPHERS IN CONVERSATION
“Family stories are more than history; they’re the heartbeat of connection across generations,” Jamie Yuenger says in this interview about the power of resilience narratives, the importance of documenting family histories, and the role of vulnerability in creating meaningful connections. Listen in:
TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF LEGACY WRITING
“Writing coach Rebecka Vigus talks about how legacy writing became a crucial part of her life, the profound discoveries she’s made along the way, and why she believes it can play a vital role in preventing cognitive decline.”
ARCHIVE FROM A REMARKABLE LIFE
“There’s a lot to go through. Plus, it’s just weird to be throwing away someone’s life, you know?” Ruth Westheimer’s son talks about going through his famous mother’s belongings after her death, sorting what will be saved as personal effects and what will be archived towards her professional legacy.
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN GENERATIONS
“If photo albums serve as heavily curated, or simplified narratives of our lives, how can we make them feel more true to our experiences? How can their contents be reworked or evolved over time, to reflect our changing memories?”
TANGIBLE ARTIFACTS
Curbed asked a dozen people who fled their homes in the wildfires about the objects they lost and what they saved.
Your next TBR memoirs?
HISTORIC PAPAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Originally intended to be published after his death, Pope Francis has made history as the first living pontiff to release a memoir. “He is one of the most influential leaders of our time, but still seems rooted in ordinariness,” reads this review.
INHERITED HEALING
“I wanted to know, in our DNA, was my code written for me to experience depression,” journalist James Longman says in this revealing interview about his forthcoming memoir, The Inherited Mind:
Miscellaneous
THE SCENT OF MEMORIES
“Smells can only bring to life the personal experiences, those that have a clear sense of personal presence and emotional charge.” Jonas Olofsson on on the science behind the hidden olfactory keys to times long past.
FEELING IN FARSI, WRITING IN ENGLISH
“As we begin to tell our stories, committing them to paper, we realize that in our adopted language, we cannot simply be storytellers—we must also be translators, interpreters.” Sahar Delijani on translating her life from one language to another.
THE POLITICS OF PLACE
“What roles do place and memory play in the construction of a narrative? In this conversation, memoirist Shze-Hui Tjoa and novelist Farah Ali talk about how these forces affect the storytelling in their respective books.”
...and a few more links
Adrien Brody shares connection between 'Brutalist' role and family history.
Memories In Writing Foundation announces free do-it-yourself memoir workbooks.
Digital echoes: preserving memories with AI conversations after life
Sentimental thrift store find saddens woman who discovers it.
LyfeIndex is a digital service helping to preserve memories for a global audience.
New study finds a higher lifetime risk of dementia than previously thought.
The history and tradition of presidents leaving personal notes for their successors
Short takes
Life Story Links: January 7, 2025
Kick off 2025 with three weeks’ worth of goodies about family history, memoir, legacy preservation, and journaling curated by personal historian Dawn Roode.
“Getting emotionally prepared to mine your life takes time. Give yourself grace.”
—Vanessa Mártir
Vintage postcard, circa 1908, from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
Through the lens of history
HISTORY’S INNER LIFE
Studs Terkel understood how, in addition to the historic events in one’s life, it was the daily rituals “that made people who they were: the cleaning, the counting, the welding, the typing, the talking, the praying, the singing, the watching, the laughing, the weeping.” A look back at his oral history Working as it turns 50.
FROM THE VAULT
Former president Jimmy Carter has died. He was 100 years old. In this 13-minute listen, a biographer reexamines the former president’s extraordinary life, and Carter himself talks about his memoir, A Full Life:
Pictures and stories
JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER
“So, how does a jacket for a memoir that carries as much literary and cultural significance as Knife—which details the author’s 2022 stabbing and recovery—actually come together?” Arsh Raziuddin and Greg Mollica on designing the jacket for Salman Rushdie’s memoir.
HISTORIC PHOTOS NOW AVAILABLE
An online version of the National Archives’ major exhibition “Picturing the Century: One Hundred Years of Photography from the National Archives” can now be viewed online.
Safeguarding our legacies
CASE STUDY IN DOCUMENTATION
“When The New York Times covers a $50 billion family fight for control, it’s more than just a headline—it’s a wake-up call for families navigating legacy, values, and continuity.” StoryKeep’s Jamie Yuenger on 7-Eleven’s legacy and why wealthy families should prioritize storytelling.
THOUGHTS FROM AN OBIT WRITER
“Too many fascinating stories are lost because they were never written down and are only vaguely remembered by friends and family,” says James Robert Hagerty, who says that writing more than 1,000 obituaries has given him a mission to persuade people to record their own stories “while they still can.”
DEAR DIARY
January is National Journal Writing Month (NaJoWriMo) and this year’s first theme is “Journaling for Personal Growth and Achieving Goals.” Reflect on your 2024 journals and find resources, prompts, and more here.
LEGACY PROJECTS
Philadelphia–based personal historian Clémence Scouten was a guest on the Honestly Aging video podcast, offering up lots of DIY advice on writing, preserving, and sharing one’s life story:
The soul of a thing
A (VIRTUAL) WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
When you think of preserving memories, scrapbooks or photo albums likely come to mind. But what about Google Maps?
A CENTURY OF STEWARDSHIP
“A family’s set of dishes has passed through five generations of women, but will the teacups, plates and bowls make it to a sixth?” Will their precious plates continue to hold stories?
10 SENTIMENTAL STORIES
Among wedding keepsakes saved by couples, “occasionally, one item can take center stage and, like a relationship, endures the test of time and grows in sentimental value.”
BROKEN GLASS
“It was time, I felt, to let the precious of the past mingle with the precious of the present.” Rachael Cerrotti on her generations-deep tendency to attach memory to object—in this case, two sets of gifted stemware.
How stories are told
‘WHAT’S WRONG WITH A WRITING COLLABORATOR?’
“Want to Earn Six Figures as a Writer? Try Ghostwriting,” reads a recent headline in The Wall Street Journal. “Shifts in the book industry have been a boon to writers who work quietly behind the scenes.”
KEY BOOK PUBLISHING PATHS
“One of the biggest questions I hear from authors today: What is the best way to publish my work?” Longtime publishing pro Jane Friedman updates this thorough post every year—and, since she says it “is an increasingly complicated question to answer,” she has greatly expanded its content for 2025.
ON FICTIONALIZING PERSONAL HISTORY
Sometimes, our own family history makes for a perfect story—“but what do you do if the history itself works best in a totally different era, or a dog makes more sense to be a cat, or winter works better than summer when it really happens? This is where personal history and historical fiction collide.”
WILD CARDS
Forget about an interview script—podcast host Rachel Martin has guests pull a card from a questions deck in the hopes they’ll go deep. This month, she brought that deck to Washington Square Park in New York City and asked the questions of people face-to-face. Listen in:
...and a few more links
Short takes
Life Story Links: December 17, 2024
Just in time for your holiday break, a roundup overflowing with good reads—there’s family history, memoir, and writing (both guidance and recommendations).
“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become old.”
—Tom Stoppard
Vintage postcard of New York City’s Woolworth Building and City Hall at night, circa early 1900s; from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
Reenvisioning the past
‘MY GRANDMOTHER AS ESSENCE’
“The outlines of Margaret Finley D’Imperio’s life were revealed to me by way of a long-lost box and a misplaced letter written by the woman I called my aunt,” Beth Kephart writes in this announcement for her first novel for adults, which, she says, “yields the grandmother I remember and imagine.”
A FAMILY HISTORY RECONFIGURED
Sasha Chavchavadze uses her family history as source material for her multimedia art, creating works from shards of stories and objects discovered among her grandparents’ things (there’s plenty of intrigue and notable Russian connections, too).
A GENERATIONAL LEGACY OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
“Who might have climbed in their branches, sheltered beneath their canopies, carved a lover’s name into their living flesh? And how many lives depended on them over the years?” One family tree, among the trees of Scotland.
HOW OLD IS MY (BRITISH) HOUSE?
“In the popular BBC Two series A House Through Time, historian David Olusoga researches the history of an ordinary house, revealing the fascinating, shocking, and touching stories of its inhabitants. The program has inspired many people to find out more about the previous residents of their home.”
FACING HERSELF
“I now know it’s a common question asked of ethnically ambiguous young people: What are you? Back then, it scared me. What was I? A face was a map, and mine was unreadable.” Memoirist Melissa Febos on seeing her past and future selves.
A KID FROM MARLBORO ROAD
When his mom was stuck in Florida during Covid, Edward Burns called her daily to cheer her up—and eventually he began inviting stories from the past. Unexpectedly, those stories found their way into his first novel. Here, he talks about how he towed the line between memoir and fiction, and how his mom passed on a love of storytelling:
Writing our lives
WRITER/HUMAN
“Where does the writer stop and the man begin?” Nathan Deuel muses on writers he has met—“Or, On Learning That Cormac McCarthy Was a Creep,” as he titles the piece.
SENTIMENTAL GIFT…OR UNWANTED BURDEN?
Modern Heirloom Books’ Write Your Life—which sends weekly memory and writing prompts to annual subscribers—may be just the thing to gift your parent or loved one…or, it may not be right at all. Here’s how to know.
THE YEAR IN MEMOIR
It’s time for year-end wrap-ups, and there are plenty of lists of the best memoirs of 2024. Here are a few (will you add anything to your TBR pile, I wonder?):
SUPPORT FOR YOUR BOOK
“Deciding which type of editing support you need is a deeply personal choice.” Mali Bain, a custom publisher based in British Columbia, Canada, helps you determine which type of editing is best suited for your memoir, life story, or family history.
WHERE MEMORIES RESIDE(D)
“The story begins in 1968, when I was 13 and we left Long Island to vacation with a family of lime green lizards in a bare-bones motel next to a windy beach on the east end of St. Thomas.” Joan Bregstein on how one family’s vacation home’s significance shifted through generations.
Short takes
Life Story Links: December 3, 2024
Maybe we’re leaning into sentiment during the holiday season, or maybe it’s just a good week: This roundup is bursting at the seam with stories worth your time.
“Many writers have spoken with me privately about the feeling that they cannot remember childhood. But if I ask specific, concrete questions—‘Where was the table in the kitchen where you ate as a child? Where was the window in your bedroom?’—pictures come to the mind of the writer who ‘cannot remember.’ A picture is an image, and a longtime remembered image is like a riddle. What astonishes me is how often, if we work carefully and patiently, the slightest childhood image will give up its secret..”
—Pat Schneider
Vintage postcard with an illustration entitled “December Twilight,” postmarked 1906; from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
Picturing the past
STORIES OF BRAVE YOUNG MEN
A scrapbook packed with memories from WWI soldiers, including a poignant account of the 1914 Christmas truce (and a fragment of a white surrender flag), sold for thousands at auction. Around 90 wounded serviceman contributed to a nurse’s journal as part of their recuperation in hospital.
‘MARK YOUR PLACE IN HISTORY’
“You have to create images that speak.” Jamel Shabazz has long been one of my favorite photographers; while he is known as a street photographer, I would label him a photographer of humanity. “Love is the foundation of a lot of my work.” Here, a look behind the scenes, courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art:
On memoir
HOW TO BE A WRITER
“My problem was I thought you had to know what you were doing. Nonsense. You just have to start.” Memoirist Abigail Thomas on writing, plus a bonus side door prompt.
DETAILS IN FAMILY STORIES
“When writing a family story, too many flowery words can drag down a narrative. But stark facts alone won’t ignite your reader’s imagination. Rhonda Lauritzen on what’s the right amount of detail to ensure a compelling read.
PREPARE, ASK, LISTEN, PRESERVE
“Your curiosity represents the curiosity of others who may engage with the project later.” Whitney Myers on listening with intention and other tried-and-true methods for getting the best out of an interview subject.
INDUSTRY TRENDS
“Publishers are turning away from personal stories. Have readers stopped caring about each other’s lives?” Have memoirs become “almost impossible to sell”?
THE GIFT OF MEMORIES
My Write Your Life course delivers weekly memory and writing prompts via email—and just in time for holiday giving, I explore who this gift might be right (and wrong!) for. Is it you?
Manifestations of memory
MEMORIES ON A PLATE
“We prioritized narratives that emphasized intergenerational bonds, rituals, and culinary traditions,” say the editors of a new book that invites readers into 100 kitchens across India to sample food steeped in story.
HOLIDAY FOOD TRADITIONS
A new survey finds nearly half of Americans can’t make family-favorite holiday dish due to lost recipes. “Older family members in particular may hold the key to the secret ingredient from grandma’s sweet potato pie or, in my case, aunt Rhonda’s lemon meringue,” said genealogist Crista Cowan.
MORE THAN A FAMILY RECIPE
Fearless Fabulous You's Melanie Young says, “Making a family recipe and sharing a story about the person who used to prepare it can be an emotional glue that binds everyone together to recognize that person who is no longer seated at the table.”
EXPLORING YOUR ROOTS
Online tools are helping Americans travel abroad to discover their ancestry, seek out relatives, and obtain documentation for dual citizenship. Here are tips for planning a family heritage trip.
BEARING WITNESS IN SONG
“Guta uses songs to bring memories back, and she safely connects with her (often traumatic) past in this manner, in order to fulfill the imperative to remember those who have gone before us.” Filmmaker preserves songs from the Holocaust.
Telling tales
STORYTELLING CREATES UNITY
“I consider myself an itinerant storyteller,” Levar Burton said. “And the invitation is a storyteller’s stock and trade because he’s asking the audience if they want to hear his story.”
ON SELF-REFLECTION
Rachael Cerrotti has been exploring the stories we tell ourselves in her Along The Seam podcast. “But sometimes we need a break from our own narratives. Sometimes (often times?) our minds are not our best mirrors of self and we need the gift of someone else’s observations.”
SELF-PORTRAITS, NEW YORK CITY
E.B. White “was a master at finding the exact words for these small but unforgettable moments, but he always considered himself ‘a non-poet who occasionally breaks into song.’”
Journals and letters
‘THE MAKING OF SYLVIA PLATH’ EXCERPT
How Sylvia Plath found her literary voice by keeping a diary: “At an early age, Plath realized you could incorporate yourself in a medium.”
NO ORDINARY JOE
Joe Brainard’s “trove of letters leads him down from Mount Olympus on a staircase of his own words. Love, Joe reveals a man who had faults, as well as desires that could be pragmatic and unsurprisingly ambitious.”
Holiday memory-keeping
GIFT IDEAS FOR THE FAMILY HISTORIAN
Every year Family Tree magazine updates its holiday genealogy gift list—the editors say it goes “beyond DNA tests,” and it certainly does. I am honored to be included among the memory and preservation gift ideas.
PRICELESS PRESENTS
This list of “perfectly sentimental gifts for the ones who cherish memories more than things” is vastly different from the one above (my favorite recommendation just may be the heirloom trunk for safekeeping mementos).
‘DEAR MRS. DOYLE’
Not only is the audio story snippet below heartwarming and filled with gratitude just in time for Thanksgiving, but it also employs a striking graphic animation style to bring the story to life:
...and a few more links
Will heavily funded AI publisher Spines replace the role of publisher, as it promises?
Writers condemn startup Spines’s plans to publish 8,000 books next year using AI.
“Portrait of My Mother Studying for Her Citizenship Exam,” a poem by Eduardo Martínez-Leyva
Using storytelling as a tool for mentorship in schools and workplaces
50 interesting historical photos that might teach you something new, from Bored Panda
Short takes
Life Story Links: November 19, 2024
Whew, this week’s curated roundup is chock-full of reads worthy of your time! There’s memoir, family history, craft, conversation, and much more—bookmark it.
“Stories are everywhere, and although you cannot touch them, you may see them like fireflies in your backyard; they fill the night with magic.”
—Tristine Rainer
Vintage postcard of Madison Square Garden in New York City, postmarked 1908; from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
What we remember
BOOMERS, SENTIMENTAL COLLECTORS?
“In many case, it will fall to kids and grandkids to decide what to do with the old dance costumes, school art projects, and childhood memorabilia their parents insisted on keeping in the attic or basement.” Read on for an expert’s advice for how to navigate “boomer junk.”
VIRTUES OF FORGETTING
“Memory for humans has been so fleeting that when we then get tools to conserve, we overindulge in it. We go overboard because we haven’t learned how to temperate our appetite for memory.” A look at context-free nostalgia and the affect of digital ‘memories’ on our actual memory.
Memoirs & oral histories of note
LEGENDARY ORAL HISTORIAN
Studs Terkel “let his interviewees tell their own stories in their own voices, and through them he painted an honest and intimate history of the American people.” Here are excerpts from five of his most iconic books.
PERSONAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Augusto Monterroso’s “memoir, with its detours and vignettes, reads like a book of experimental essays, the unifying subject matter being Monterroso’s excavation of the people and events that helped him form an early idea of himself.”
A CANCER PATIENT TURNS TO MEMOIRS
“I found consolation in these [cancer] memoirs, identifying with the struggle to hang onto and forge a meaningful life. I have experienced an intensification of emotions...[and] a new relation to my body, in particular, a sensitivity to tune into it and listen.”
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
“I have suggested that if a life is worth writing down, it should also carry some meaning—something beyond the important tale of this is what happened to me. But what, I have been asked, do I mean by that word ‘meaning?’” Beth Kephart on the universal in memoir, and a life’s work.
Preservation, posterity & personal history
GRAVERS UNITE
“I decided to solve a longtime mystery about my family. It led me to a controversial pastime that consumes thousands—and has changed untold lives.” Tony Ho Tran on his weekends with the dead.
KEEPING MEMORIES ALIVE THROUGH BRUSHSTROKES
“I don’t want to forget my Lola. I feel like we live through our stories,” this artist says of his grandmother in a poignant portrait of an intergenerational relationship he captured in a glorious self-published book. “This is. my way of keeping her present.” Here they are:
‘THE GIRL IN THE GRASS’
“A woman whose family had to sell a [Pissarro] painting in the Holocaust and a museum have struck a deal. The museum will keep the work but will help to publish a book telling the family’s story.”
A LIBRARIAN’S LEGACY (AND THE FAMILY HISTORY SHE ERASED)
While Belle da Costa Greene “was very much a public figure in the forefront of New York high society, her personal history was shrouded in secrecy, the continuance of which she took an active role in ensuring.” Now the Morgan Library is honoring the dual life of its inaugural director with a new exhibition.
SACRED PLACES
“Her room just completely speaks of who she was.” How do you make a portrait of a child who isn't there? Photographer Lou Bopp photographed the still-intact bedrooms of kids who were killed in school shootings.
Family history & storytelling resources
TURKEY AND TALES
Last week I shared a roundup of some of the most helpful and popular stories on the Modern Heirloom Books site to help you preserve your family stories this Thanksgiving.
HONOR, SERVICE, AND SACRIFICE
A new Smithsonian guide covers “Veterans Day history, personal stories, military branches and awards, and intergenerational activities to honor the legacy of the country’s veterans.”
‘DAD, I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE WAR’
“My father would never talk about the past, not five years ago, not five minutes ago.... That’s not the way you survive in battle.” Becky Ellis in conversation with Crista Cowan about opening the door to her father’s wartime memories. Listen in below, or read the transcript here.
...and a few more links
New heritage preservation app Fireside launches to help families capture video memories.
Norman Maclean biography uncovers personal stories of beloved UChicago author.
Queen Elizabeth’s final diary entry was “as factual and practical as ever,” says her biographer.
Memories are not only in the brain: cells throughout your body store memory.
Norah Rami on tracing her history at an archival epistolary exhibition in India.
Read an excerpt from Letters by Oliver Sacks, edited by Kate Edgar (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024).
Short takes
Life Story Links: November 5, 2024
A treasure trove of recent stories about memoir writing, legacy preservation, and personal and family history, curated by longtime biographer Dawn Roode.
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
—Wordsworth
Vintage postcard with an illustration of the New York City riverfront, circa early 1900s; from the personal ephemera collection of Dawn Roode.
Where are the stories?
‘TELL ME MORE’
“By mastering the art of follow-up questions, you become a skilled facilitator, drawing out details, emotions, and lessons that make each story unique and deeply personal.” How to level-up your family history interviews.
SNIPPETS OF HIS BOYHOOD SLIPPED OUT
Though her father was always reluctant to tell stories from his youth in Russia, “little things would drop out...and I’d think, ‘Oh, that’s a good story.’ All the while I was compiling the evidence,” Sheila Baslaw says. The 92-year-old has released a children’s books highlighting one of those family stories.
SHARED FAMILY MEMORY
“I pointed to a picture and asked, ‘What was her name again?’ He closed the book and softly said, ‘I don’t remember. And now there’s no one I can ask.’” Jill Sarkozi on how to answer family history questions when family elders are gone.
Memories made physical
THE FAMILY PHOTO LIBRARY
“One risk of photographing your life is that you’ll create an illusory version of it, a selective visual record that reflects your wishes rather than reality.” Joshua Rothman on what you can learn from photographing your life.
THE REAL VALUE OF ALL THAT STUFF?
“As one of my first clients aptly put it, they hired me to ‘prevent the boxes that went unopened and unsorted from my grandparents' house into my dad's attic, from going unopened and unsorted into my attic.’” Clémence Scouten offers up concrete advice for what to do when personal memorabilia becomes part of an estate.
LEAN INTO YOUR SENTIMENTAL SIDE
“Your life and memories deserve to be preserved in beautiful ways.” Crafty influencer Martina Calvi is inspiring a resurgence in scrapbooking—the good, old-fashioned glue-and-paper kind.
A WINDOW TO HISTORY
In Ruth Hunduma’s short documentary The Medallion (watch it here), the story of Ethiopia’s Red Terror is told through a family artifact and a mother’s memories.
SYMBOLS OF THE STRUGGLE
“For some reason, we never once took a family portrait with all three generations in one frame. But we had the corkboard, testament to the things that mattered to us across eight decades.” How protest pins taught the author about her family history.
A VAULT OF CREATIVITY
“The Bob Dylan Archive had long been a subject of rumor and legend.... It was kind of hard to picture Mr. Don’t Look Back himself boxing up old notebooks for posterity. But if he didn’t, someone did.”
Of memoir and memoirists
GIRL MEETS WORLD
“You sometimes buy high heels but you never wear them, because who wants to be caught by shoes in which she can’t run away.” Read a beautiful excerpt from My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir by Sarah Moss.
STAR STORIES
“Candid, intelligent books that reveal the humans under the headlines, the dark side of the spotlight, and the epic stories that the tabloids could never capture”: Oprah Daily rounds up the 25 best celebrity memoirs of all time.
ORIGIN STORY
“Over the years, I’ve often been asked about my upbringing, my time at Harvard, and co-founding the company. Those questions made me realize that people might be interested in my journey and the factors that influenced it.” Bill Gates’s memoir, Source Code, will be out in 2025. (Meanwhile, Gates disputes much of an author’s reporting in a new biography about him.)
‘LEFTOVER LOVE’
“Over the years she told me her stories and I told her my stories. Both of us recognizing and accepting the way they rhymed and the way they didn’t.” A story about intergenerational friendship.
‘MEMORIES OF DISTANT MOUNTAINS’
A peek inside the illustrated notebooks of memoirist and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, arranged by the author not in chronological order, but emotional order.
...and a few more links
A review of Francine Prose’s memoir 1974: A Personal History
Podcast features personal accounts of Mississippians who lived through WWII.
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, what do a thousand pictures say?”
New app, Autobiographer, aims to preserve life stories through “adaptive conversation.”
A look at free speech and hate speech through a memoirist’s lens
In Washington, preserving the memories of veterans, one headstone at a time
The best sentimental gift ideas for 2024, according to Good Housekeeping
Short takes