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The
"Your Life is Your Story" Blog Archives
Read about
quality family history and life story news, views, methods, products,
links, services
...and whatever else catches our fancy
March
2012
current
blog entries
blog archive
index
Banjo Breakdown. Earl Scruggs Has Died
March 29, 2012
 I
grew up in the 60's and 70's, mostly surrounded by rock music. My
lengthy career in radio was primarily at various rock stations around
the country. But I had friends, both in and out of radio, who turned me
on to all kinds of music. And one of them was Earl Scruggs.
Scruggs could make that banjo sing and syncopate and do all kinds of
footstompin' good sounds. He was an innovator and he also played with
other kings of bluegrass music like Bill Monroe and Lester Flatts. You
are probably familiar with Foggy
Mountain Breakdown and maybe even The Ballad of Jed Clampett
from the Beverly
Hillbillies TV show.
Scruggs died on Wednesday (NRP Story). I'd like to think he
and John Hartford are together pickin' and grinnin' in that big jam
session in the sky.
I Am a Perstorian
March 24, 2012
I was reading the newest ezine from the Association
of Personal Historians today. I've been a member of the APH
since 2003 and I'm actually writing the check to renew for another
year. The association has continued to grow and members have joined
from across the United States, Canada and overseas (including Europe
and Australia) as personal history continues to gain traction in the
media and hearts and minds of the public. The genuine passion and
helpfulness of the members still continues to impress me. I've learned
a lot and I haven't even pursued this line of work fulltime like many
other members (some day I will!).
It
was recently that the APH
overhauled the website and designed a new logo
and tagline. I like that we are calling ourselves The Life Story People.
This issue of the ezine has a new title, too. It is The Perstorian. A
nice play on the words person
and historian.
I think I will start telling people that's what I am because it will
surely get them to pause and ask, "what?". Then I'll have the
opportunity to explain what personal history and life story
preservation is all about.
If you are thinking about this line of work I encourage you to
investigate the APH.
Tell them I sent you and maybe we'll be exchanging emails and forum
posts in the future.
Powerful Montreal Oral History Project Has Some Touching Stories
March 22, 2012
For several years a special oral history project by Montreal Life Stories
has been gathering some powerful stories of refugees displaced by mass
violence in places like Rwanda, Haiti and Cambodia. Now these stories
are being shared on subway cars equipped with audio portraits
and
a QR code on them directs people with their smart phones to various
digital stories. You can find out more about this project known as
Recontre-Moi ("Get to Know Me) by reading a blog post by Al Fowler on the Association of Personal
Historians Blog.
Lives. Interesting Stories Posted by New York Times. Yours Could Be Next
March 14, 2012
The New York Times
has been posting essays about interesting people's lives. Various people have
contributed. Recent intriguing titles include Last Fling of an Octegenarian,
A Mustache for My
Son, The
End of Girl Land and Grabbing
Life by the Horns.
A good "lives" essay doesn't need a great title, of course, but it does
help stir interest. Of those listed, which would you click on first?
Do you have an intersting life story to share? Before you raise your
hand you might consider what the Times is looking for.They want true
personal stories, about 800 words, more action and less rumination, not
sappy (ala Hallmark TV movies) and specific details rather than broad
statements. They've even offered up a How to Write a 'Lives' Essay.
Check it out and maybe submit
something.
Hospice Chaplain: They Talk - She Listens
March 7, 2012
Doing hospice work - helping people through their final days - is a
very special calling. It takes someone who is compassionate and kind.
Patient and tolerant.
Kerry Egan does this work. As a divinity school student she started
working as a chaplain at a cancer hospital. She was just 26 and still
learning to do what a chaplain does. She wrote an article for CNN's Belief Blog
about being asked by her professor what she talked to patients about
and her answer in this article might surprise you. Seems she mostly
listened. And the patients talked. What about? God? Religion? Prayer?
Well...really, mostly about life and family. And why they do, she
realizes many years later, is because that's how people talk
about faith, God and spiritual matters.
Read the article here.
Flying Over the Grave
March 5, 2012
It was one week ago that we buried my father's remains at Fort
Leavenworth National Cemetery in Kansas.
Dad was a full colonel when he retired from the Air Force after 26
years of distinguished service. He'd been a pilot through it all and
flew some of the most prestigious aircraft of the day, including the
B-58 bomber (the Hustler) and the F-4 Phantom fighter jet.
My dad died on January 14th of this year and I wrote about that
previously (The Pilot
Who Soared on Eagles Wings).
Because of his military career we wanted to make sure that he got his
burial with military honors. His remains were cremated and stored in an
urn until the appointed day on February 27. Dad would be laid to rest
in the same plot with Mom. | continue
reading |
We
Are Story
March 2, 2012
Recently I've discovered that MemoryPress
(run by FamilyLearn.com)
has an uncertain future. They've reportedly been undergoing a technical
overhaul of their online system, but they are currently not accepting
new customers. I've liked their option to preserved your story through
what is essentially a turnkey process. Plus, it has been affordable. I
will keep you posted as I learn more.
Fortunately, there are other ways and places to post your stories. One
I've recently discovered is Imastory (imastory)
– as in, “I’m a story”
– is a place to share your stories and encourage you to
capture your life tales and that of others through a free site that is
both engaging, technically advanced and easy to use. Rolland Love, a
writer and speaker, has spent years helping elders write their stories,
but his latest epiphany is to encourage young people in schools to
interview and write the stories of their parents and grandparents. You
can bet that resonates with me!
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