Magical Memoir Moments
Crossing Cultures Through Memoir: A Guest Blog Post
Do you remember Jimmy Carter’s mother Lillian? She did many remarkable things, but what I remember most is that she applied to the Peace Corps at age 68 and then nursed leprosy patients during a two-year term in India. Let me introduce you to another Peace Corps volunteer, also a Gestalt psychotherapist and sociologist, Janet…
Book Clubs: Strengthening the Invisible Connection Between Authors and Readers
The poet Muriel Rukeyser most famously proclaimed, “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.” No better proof of that dictum can be found than the conversation that occurs all around the world when readers assemble around a dining room table or a fireplace. The current name for this practice is book club, but…
Reviewing 2013 and Setting Goals for 2014: Continuing the Search for Simplicity, Legacy
On January 1 of each year, I try to reflect on the good news of the past year, forgive the pain, and gaze upon the blank slate of the new with great anticipation. As I get older, I think of each new year as an amazing gift. A friend once wished me a happy birthday,…
Sharing Nostalgia for Childhood at Christmas Time With Linda Gartz
Nostalgia. Comes from two Greek words meaning a longing for home. Probably Christmas brings out more nostalgia than any other time of the year. According to the New York Times, nostalgia is good for us. I’ve been sharing nostalgic photos of vintage decorations and ornaments with those of you who subscribe to my weekly Magical…
A Modern Farm Girl Bookworm Evaluates Blush and the Value of a Tobacco Worm Today
Meet Clara, my grand niece. Like all my “grands,” she’s amazing. Clara loves to read. She estimates she read fifty books in 2013. She’s eleven years old and attends Ephrata (Pennsylvania) Intermediate School. She bubbles with enthusiasm when asked about what she likes in books. But I was also warned by her Grandma Sue (my…
Do You Remember December 1, 1969? Another Chance to Publish Your Story!
I’m beginning to think about my college years, 1966-1970, since that’s where my memoir Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World ends and where a second volume could begin. So I was very interested in the new memoir just about Denis R. O’Neill’s senior year of college at Dartmouth: WHIPLASH: When the Vietnam War…
Your Chance to be an Author! Tell a FriendStory
Some of the people who read this blog are authors and bloggers. Other people who read this blog have a closeted desire to write. They need a little push. So, here’s a perfect opportunity for both kinds of people. Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, an author friend, started a blog a year in advance of her next novel Bittersweet being published. Bittersweet is…
How Writing Helps Us Peel Back Meaning and Purpose One Layer at a Time
My publisher, Herald Press, asked me to do a guest blog on their MennoBytes site. Having written lots of guest posts, I decided to answer a different question, one I get a lot when I talk to groups about my memoir Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World “How does this childhood story relate…
My Cousin, My Friend: How Memoir Photos Connect Us
If I had to pick the best friend of my childhood, the winner would have to be my cousin Mary Ann. She appears in both photos and stories in Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World. She’s there in the very beginning of my life, having preceded me in life by nine months, a…
After the First Blush: So, How's the Book Doing?
This morning the sun in the East illuminated the view in the West. I ran outside to try to experience the brilliant light. But when I tried to capture it, I found the result disappointing. Here’s the best example of a pool of November light below the mountains. November light flits and turns, bright, low…