Life Story Links: April 21, 2020
“We’re all products of our context in time and place.”
—Linda Joy Myers
Front line workers were heroes during the flu epidemic of 1918, as they are now during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Photograph: St. Louis Red Cross Motor Corps on duty during influenza epidemic (1918). Original from Library of Congress; digitally enhanced by Rawpixel.
Writing Our Lives
HYBRID MEMOIR, EXAMINED
In her essay “What Are the Boundaries of a Memoir?” Beth Kephart uses new books by Mark Doty and Paul Lisicky to look at “the hybrid memoir—these books that spring from the wells of the curious self, that dissolve the borders between the writer and the world, that operate somewhere between the lyric braid and the collage.”
THE MISSING
“It’s not my uncle’s absence that haunts me—after all, I never knew him. It’s that no one—not my grandparents, my parents, or any of my mother’s cousins we visited with over the years—told me stories about him, or about losing him.” Joanna Hershon on those missing from the figurative family tree.
ON WRITING ABOUT FAMILY
In a thoughtful conversation that talks about excavating family history and approaching memoir as a journalist, Sopan Deb describes his work as “a portrait of a broken immigrant family and my attempt to put it back together the best I can.”
Timely Resources
DEDICATED PASSENGER SEARCH SESSIONS
With a $30 donation to the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, a researcher from their American Family Immigration History Center will uncover your family’s connection to Ellis Island in a personalized 30-minute research session. Successful searches will receive a free digital copy of the ship manifest displaying your ancestor’s arrival in America and, when the Foundation’s office reopens, a free copy on archival paper by mail.
CORONAVIRUS JOURNALING
The New York Times offers up tips for starting your very own coronavirus diary, while North Carolina–based The Cheerful Word delivers this free download with 100 writing prompts for these extraordinary times.
FOOD MEMORIES FOREVER
With so many of us spending more time in our kitchens these days, why not take time to write down the recipes that mean something to us—along with the stories behind them? Check out this free printable for a personalized recipe book from The Storied Recipe; and my custom set of food memory cards (I mailed a few cards to each family member with a handwritten note asking them to record their favorites).
Ah, Stories!
UNEXPECTED SOULMATES
I always tell my clients that longer doesn’t mean better when it comes to storytelling, and I think this three-minute animated tale of love nurtured from afar is proof of that concept:
Mother’s Day Tributes
HONORING MOMS
Now more than ever, the gifts of listening and connection are meaningful things we can give to those we love. Here, I offer up four ideas that fit the bill for Mother’s Day giving.
WORLD MOTHER LIVE 2020
The World Mother Storytelling Project is a far-reaching global initiative that teaches us to listen to and tell our mothers’ stories. Murray Nossel, co-creator of the Narativ listening and storytelling method, will host the free event, which will be live-streamed from Town Hall in NYC on May 10, 4-6pm. Apply here to be an event storyteller.
...and a Few More Links
“What to do when your parents give you junk from your past.”
Free download: 56 Essential Family History Questions to Ask Your Parents and Grandparents
Passenger search tips and tricks from the Ellis Island Database (video)