Home
What
Story and Why
How to
Tell
What's
New
Blog
Life
Story Resources
Research
is Fun
Get
Started
Highlight
Site
Sample
Writing
Free
Newsletter
Articles
About
Contact Us
Privacy
Terms
|
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
May,
2013
current
blog entries
blog
archive
index
What a Writer Reveals
May 31, 2013
I am a Personal Historian who loves to hear people's stories,
especially the struggles and triumphs and how they have shaped their
lives. I also love to write about this. My writing services typically
involve either interviewing someone and then taking that material and
writing a narrative, or reviewing and editing the writing of others.
Either way, it gives me the opportunity to meet someone and help them
understand how their life matters. Everyone has experiences to share
and lessons learned. Everyone has a story.
There is a wonderful quote from the poet Walt Whitman that sums this
up. "A writer can do nothing for men more necessary, satisfying, than
just simply to reveal to them the infinite possibility of their own
souls."
Would you like to discover more about yourself and how your life
experiences have contributed to who you are? Consider working with a
writer like me. The Life
Story Resources page will give you more information. You might also
want to read the article I wrote, Writing My Life Story. And as
always, you can get information by email by filling out the form on the
Get
Started page. I look forward to hearing from you.
The Art of Digital Storytelling
May 30, 2013
Learn about the
"art" of digital story telling, including how it can be used in
education and business with this article at OnlineUniversities.com.
Aspire, Inspire and Perspire
May 28, 2013
Anything worth doing in your life is typically going to involve three
things: aspiration, inspiration and perspiration.
The first, to aspire, requires the desire. That usually occurs
regardless of the follow through. Each of us has at times a desire to
accomplish something meaningful and purposeful in our lives. But that
desire alone won't get it done.
Next comes the inspiration. Who do you look up to? Where do you find
your inspiration? It comes to me from various and sometimes surprising
sources. In each day there are stories of inspiration and triumph. When
the odds are stacked against someone and yet they carry on, that
provides inspiration to me. Such is the case with the story I
encountered over the weekend. Bret Dunlap could have settled for an
embittered and self-pitying life and few would have blamed him. But his
mother would have none of that and neither would Bret. Despite a
horrible accident at the age of six when a truck slammed into him in
the street, Bret has gone on to a life of hard work and some pretty
cool accomplishments, such as running marathons. His life isn't
glamorous and there have been plenty of disapointments and hardships
along the way. But he never gives up, as revealed through the wonderfully written story
of his perseverance by Steve Friedman of Runner's Magazine.
Which brings us to point three: perspiration. The things that matter
the most to us typically are the result of hard work, sacrifice and
discipline. I'm not saying there aren't gifts. Grace abounds. But we
still have to suit up and show up. Hard work yields both results and
rewards.
Aspire to a life worth living. Inspire others by your example. Don't
sweat the small stuff, but perspire when necessary.
WWI Doughboys Might Not
Have Told These Stories
May 27, 2013
It is Memorial Day, the day to
honor all those who gave their lives in fighting for freedom and
against oppression in the (too) many wars in the past two centuries. A
few days ago I came across this story on NPR and knew I would want to post
about it.
A Race Against Time
To Find WWI's Last 'Doughboys'
is the accounting of how writer Richard Rubin set out to find and
capture as many stories of living American World War One veterans as
possible. In many ways it was a race against time and he didn't always
get the story before the veteran passed on. We have to remember that
most of these men were over 100 years old.
 His book, The Last of the
Doughboys,
is a collection of stories from centenian vets. At the time of this
global conflict, and for the years that followed until the Great
Depression and WWII, this was the largest war in history. People could
not imagine anything worse. Telling their stories was often a way to
purge some painful demons. Many had never told their story to anyone,
and one of the suprising answers to why for Rubin was that no one had
ever asked.
Keep the memories of our veterans alive. Honor them and listen to them
if they are willing to talk about their experiences. Not all will be.
But some are just waiting to be asked.
Keying in on Ray
Manzarek of the Doors
May 22, 2013
Another musical icon passed on Monday (cancer at the age of 74). Ray
Manzarek was an innovative keyboardist and music maestro for the Doors.
The face and voice of that famous rock group was Jim Morrison, but it
was Manzarek's keyboard work that really set the tone, especially on
some of their bigger hits like "Love Her Madly", "Break On Through",
"Hello, I Love You", "LA Woman" and even lesser known songs like "Soul
Kitchen". I am not in any way lessening the importance of guitarist
Robby Krieger or drummer John Densmore; they were integral parts of the
band. But Ray laid the musical foundation. The opening riffs of "Light
My Fire" are embedded in me and a whole generation of children from the
60's.
 Any
time I heard Manzarek interviewed I was always struck by his articulate
expression of the music, his craft, the "scene" and anything else he
commented on. He was a good writer, too, and in addition to his memoir,
Light My Fire: My
Life With the Doors, he also penned two novels. One of them
explored in fiction the urban myth of Jim Morrison faking his death. This Los Angeles Times article comments on his
books.
It's inevitable as time goes on that more of the entertainers from the
cultural revolution of the 1960's will be ending their earthly journey.
It certainly gives me pause and reason to reminisce. It also offers the
opportunity to introduce their talents and legacy to a new generation.
The Doors are a prime example of a group that continued to gain new
fans long after their heyday.
The Roar of the Tornado
May 20, 2013
It can sound like a thousand freight trains. The roar of a tornado is
alarming, and with good reason. The news from today
and yesterday about the powerful tornadoes that hit Oklahoma brought
back memories of attending college in the late 1970's at the University
of Oklahoma. Norman is the town where OU is based and it is also the
national center for severe weather studies.
Many a time we would hear the tornado sirens blaring warnings and then
we would scramble for shelter. In my time at the university we never
had one touch down in Norman, but I recall once when a tornado flew
right over our dorm building. Another time I and two college pals were
emerging from a diner on the outskirts of Norman and the sky had that
eerie green/black color. The hairs on our neck and arms were at static
electricity attention. We looked at each other and quickly hopped in
the car. Driving towards home we heard the sirens and had to stop at a
bowling alley and hunker down while the twisters flew past us. We were
lucky - no funnels hit our ground. But just a few miles away the storms
wreaked havoc and destruction.
It's common to talk about the weather. When there really is
something to talk about it is worth preserving the story. Natural
disasters cause hardship and heartbreak. But they are also part of our
personal history landscape. Got a storm memory to write about? Send me a
short introduction. It could be the beginning of a memoir or life story.
Preserving Our
American Family
May 14, 2013
Who is saving the voices of America? That's a pretty wide open
question. Many people enjoy the stories that various family members
share. In every family there is often somebody known for being a
good storyteller. Over time those stories get better as they are
repeated and they tend to become remembered and passed on.
But how many people actually record the talking of other family
members? Get beyond being uncomfortable at being recorded and sit down
with someone and talk to them, ask them about life, and save those
recordings!
Doing this might give you a better idea of the importance of saving
voices. To go beyond that and see how it is being done in a grander and
more professional way, explore Our American Family.
This project is capturing the voices of everyday families and
documenting their extraordinary stories as a PBS television series.
This is an excellent way for us to learn about our shared heritage and
to better appreciate how every family has a story worth preserving.
Ice Cream Makers Oral History - How Dreyer's Is Preserving Their
Success Story
May 8, 2013
Dreyer's is an ice cream making company whose story of developing from
a small company to one of America's most popular brands is being
preserved through oral
history interviews
that include former owners, investors and other significant players
over the years. Their philosophy makes for a good story, but I
also applaud how they are going about saving some important company
history. Thanks to videographer RJ McHatton of Inventive Productions for alerting
me and others to this story through the APH Facebook page.
Shoe Stories
May 6, 2013
Most of us are on our feet everyday. The shoes we wear can make a
statement - perhaps about your work, lifestyle or degree of
comfort or discomfort you are willing to put up with.
 Running
shoes tell a story. The pair pictured here are my latest and they
are about to be retired. Since 2006 I've been doing some distance
running and that has included a couple of marathons and another half
dozen half marathons. I've run for charity, for fitness, for spiritual
release and just for the sheer need to be outdoors taking in the world
from the perspective of a runner. That means legs and lungs pumping,
music in my ears and a song in my heart.
I've never run the Boston Marathon (I'm not that good), but when the
tragic news broke about the bombings at this year's event it struck me
to the core. I immediately felt a bond with all the people who were
affected. That bond is even stronger now that I've had a chance to read
some of the amazing short contributions by runners from this year's
event. Boston Magazine was
getting their May issue ready to go to the printers when this year's
Boston Marathon was defiled. But the act of terrorists cannot kill the
spirit of runners, Boston nor good people everywhere. This is a fact
we've seen comfirmed many times since April 15.
The staff of the magazine made the right decision to change their cover
and provide a feature story. They didn't have much time to work on it,
but the response via social media, email and personal contact was great
and they were able to include some powerful reports
from people who participated in the marathon. And the picture on the
cover of the magazine is awe-inspiring. Running shoes in the shape of a
heart with the middle left open and the words, "We Will Finish The
Race". Good job, Boston Magazine.
Well done, contributors. Boston
Strong, indeed.
|
