What you can learn from Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper

You might be surprised to learn what Anderson Cooper calls “the most valuable year of my life.” It's the period when he and his mother Gloria Vanderbilt maintained an email correspondence that delved deep—into the feelings they had previously not spoken about, and into their experiences both shared and wholly individual. The back-and-forth format of questions and stories is engaging, and most meaningful in its sense of discovery, of a grown man coming to know his mother in wonderful new ways. Why not be inspired to follow in their conversational footsteps?

family history, memoir & writing, reviewsDawn M. RoodeSeptember 6, 2016Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt book, celebrity parents biography, letters to parent sharing life storiesComment

“Billee’s ‘Famous’ Foods”

Gramma Billee kept a jar for bacon drippings on her stove; she used it liberally and kept it full. She knew everyone’s favorite foods and provided them—often.

book ideas & inspiration, family history, memoir & writing, food memoriesDawn M. RoodeAugust 17, 2016grandmother's cooking reminds her of childhood, food is nourishing and food is love, recipes passed down through generationsComment

“Mom’s Spaghetti and Meatballs”

Red sauce ran in her grandmother's blood, and every family member would one day memorize her beloved recipe. Peek into a family kitchen, and a mother's heart.

book ideas & inspiration, family history, memoir & writing, food memoriesDawn M. RoodeAugust 8, 2016spaghetti sauce recipe handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter, the power of red sauce to bring back childhood memories, family passed down recipe through generationsComment

“Pop’s Pie”

Is a grandfather’s love the missing ingredient to the best key lime pie? A young mother delves into memories of the treats her beloved Pop made just for her.

book ideas & inspiration, family history, memoir & writing, food memoriesDawn M. RoodeAugust 2, 2016grandfather's key lime pie, recipes passed down through generations hold meaning, remembering a grandfather through the foods he cookedComment

A taste of the past

Smells and tastes conjure memories in a most primal way, and can transport us right back to our childhood kitchens. Our recipe for preserving your food stories.

book ideas & inspiration, family history, memoir & writing, food memoriesDawn M. RoodeAugust 1, 2016the power of food to recall memories, food related memories through generations, preserving family recipes for futureComment

Why genealogy is not the answer to finding yourself

Genealogy is history on a personal scale. It helps satisfy a deep need to understand how we fit into the broader world around us. But knowledge of our ancestors does not define us. Read on for musings on why we should collect stories, not ancestors.

family history, why tell your stories?Dawn M. RoodeJune 21, 2016do you need to know your ancestors to know yourself, family history and identity, genealogy can help you learn about yourself Comment

#Legacy Links: June 10 - Photographs, Memory, and Life Lessons

This week's top 4 legacy links all focus in some way on the enduring power of photography—the power to connect us with the past, to inspire, and my favorite, to reveal stories and truths.

family history, photo legacy, curated roundupsDawn M. RoodeJune 10, 2016stories behind family photos, photography exhibits focus on legacy and family history Comments

“His are the sepia eyes that passed through me.”

“His is the broad nose, the high cheekbones, the determined mouth, the face not like an oval or a heart, but like a square. He died long before I'd ever meet him, but I carried him in my blood.” In Beth Kephart's contribution to our “Pictures Into Words” series, you’ll find inspiration for writing about a photograph that holds more mystery than memory. Sometimes it's the wondering, the imagining, that brings life to an old photo—that carries your ancestors from the past into the present and finds the narrative thread in our connected lives.