Life Story Links: July 12, 2022
“Take nourishment from good stories…. Because it’s the art of the storyteller that reminds us that there is not just one single answer to human dilemmas.”
—Gianrico Carofiglio
Vintage photo of a father with his daughters on a merry-go-round during the Fourth of July carnival in Vale, Oregon, in 1941. Photograph by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration, courtesy of The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Pro tips for diy family history preservation
AND NOW, VISUAL STORYTELLING
When the writing of a memoir is finished (hurray!), the next step is gathering photographs to include in your printed book. Last week I shared my top tips for picking the best images to include in your life story book.
FOOD STORIES, GATHERED
“One of the best ideas for a family reunion is to make a family cookbook that documents all the family recipes (and recipe rivalries!) in one place.” Here, top tips on how to tackle your family cookbook together.
WRITING YOUR TRUTH
“When you include people besides you in your story (how can you not?), someone will not like what you write about them. They will call you liar. I don’t think that should stop you.” Vanessa Mártir on the complicated nature of writing about family.
Stories through stuff
FAMILY HISTORY CONNECTIONS
“I don’t see my great-grandfather’s imprisonment as a stain on the family, like ink spilled on the fabric of the baby quilt his daughter would go on to make for me,” writes Megan St. Marie, an Amherst, Massachusetts–based personal historian in this piece inspired by a family heirloom.
HUMAN STORIES TOLD THROUGH OBJECTS
“A young child’s diary, a favorite doll, a cookbook of family recipes, a report card, a Torah scroll smuggled to the United States, and a silver spoon found among the rubble at a concentration camp”—these are among the 750 artifacts accompanied by first-person testimonies in an expansive new permanent exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan.
HIS ABSTRACT ART IS HIS LEGACY
A neighbor was curious about George Westren and learned more about him after his death. Now he is helping cement the artist’s legacy by preserving—and showing—his artwork.
Recommended first person reads
AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER
The few vintage images are as alluring as the words in this recounting of the downtown icon Michele Saunders’ “accidental getaway” with a literary legend James Baldwin.
“IT’S ALL ABOUT YEARNING”
“You look back through a reverse crystal ball at all the hoopla, sometimes not even believing you were there in that time... No time to sleep. No idea that you would someday grow old and no longer be the headline.” Susie Kaufman on nostalgia.
Stories and history
WRITERS PROJECT
Bookmark this collection to visit again and again: Contemporary writers reflect on 25 voices from the archives of The Atlantic—adding valuable context and linking to original stories that reflect a belief that ideas can change the world.
(JUST?) FAMILY LORE
“For a short time, our family’s history is the world’s history.” Chicago–based personal historian Nora Kerr on looking beyond the surface meaning of your family legends.
...and a few more links
Short takes