Save a Life…In a Story By Marcia Passos Duffy
www.NewEnglandLifeStories.com
So many people keep meaning to interview their parents or
grandparents -- and capture all those entertaining and
enlightening family stories. But most people never get around to
it, and put it off until it is too late and the storyteller has
died or is too sick to tell stories anymore. This was the case
with me. My grandmother died 2 years ago at the age of 94. She
was born in Portugal and immigrated twice – to Brazil then to
the United States where she lived with my parents for 30 years
-- and many stories to tell of her adventures. I was very close
with my grandmother, who came to live with us when I was 12. She
was a skilled, animated storyteller – as are many people of her
generation. Her stories were so vivid I believed that I would
always remember them. To this day, I don’t understand why I did
not take a tape recorder and just let her talk into it while she
spun her yarns. I’m a professional writer, and yet, I never
thought to do that. And when she died I realized that while I
remember some of her stories to tell to my own children, as time
goes on I am forgetting the delightful details, twists and turns
she gave her stories. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence
-- everyday a family elder dies, and along with them, their
stories. In the weeks that followed after my grandmother’s death
I realized something important: If, I, as a writer, had never
thought to take down my grandmother’s personal history, how many
more families are losing their precious stories – so valuable in
keeping families – particularly our children -- rooted and
grounded? That is why I became a personal historian. I know that
by recording these family stories, we allow future generations
to discover their ancestors’ personalities, experiences and
wisdom. It is a record that ensures a life -- and experiences --
will never be forgotten. A personal historian is a relatively
new profession and the Association of Personal Historians (APH)
www.personalhistorians.org has only existed since 1994. APH
members are scattered throughout 42 states and four foreign
countries to help people, businesses, families, communities and
organizations preserve memories and life stories. We do this by
audio-taping, videotaping and spreading the word about how
important it is to preserve ones own or an elders’ history.
While writing down life stories is not a new concept, the
tragedies of September 11 have led many Americans to re-evaluate
what is important in their lives, and there has been a surge in
interest in recording life stories – the lessons learned, moral
values and experiences for future generations in a family. There
have been many articles recently written about personal
historians and what they do – in the New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, Good Housekeeping, Money
magazine. But, what exactly is a life story? How is it done? A
life story is more than genealogy, more than the names, dates
and places listed on a family tree. A life story -- or personal
history -- tells the fascinating stories behind those facts and
brings a family tree to life. It can include: * A spectrum of an
individual's life, or a memoir focusing on a particular event or
period of time. * A family history bringing ancestors to life
through the stories behind the statistics on a family tree. * A
history of a community, organization or group as told through
the stories of the people involved. A personal historian is
usually also a journalist or skilled interviewer who knows how
to ask open-ended questions and listen carefully. While many
elders can be a bit self-conscious – and maybe even wary at
first – about telling their life story (many elders were brought
up in an era when it was considered vain to talk about
themselves), personal historians are very good at making people
feel at ease. Most people warm up very quickly to a listener who
cares about recording these stories. The process involves
getting “facts” of a person’s birth and family history –
sometimes from other family members. The fun part begins when
the personal historian sits down and interviews the person –
usually in his or her home – with a digital recorder. This is
done over a period of 2 or 3 days, in two-hour sessions. The
interviews are then transcribed, edited for clarity, placed in
“chapters” according to themes in a person’s life, such as
“Childhood,” “The War Years,” and “Married Life.” The book –
which usually takes about 30-40 additional hours to transcribe,
edit, revise and prepare -- can range between 100 to 200 pages.
There are many creative ways the books can be presented, and a
personal historian usually has many options including as simple
as an attractive cloth-covered three-ring binder to a
fully-bound leather book with color photographs. Often a
personal history is ordered as a gift – for a holiday or special
birthday or anniversary. Frequently, family members pitch in to
share the cost – which often begins at around $1,200 - $1,500.
Additional books are usually ordered for an extra cost. In many
cases several copies of the book are ordered and some donated as
well to local or university libraries, which value them as
unique community historical resources. People are certainly
becoming more aware of the value of recording a family’s
personal history. After all, what greater legacy can a person
leave their family than the stories of their lives? We have
found that even the most “ordinary” life has “extraordinary”
stories. We believe every one of us has an important story to
tell. As one 92 year old woman we once interviewed said after we
handed her the completed 120 page book on her life: “I always
knew I had a book in me…now when is the movie coming out?”
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