Magical Memoir Moments
Priya's White Elephant: A Fairy Tale
Once upon a time there lived a lovely princess by the beautiful name of Priya who was born in a faraway land called India . As is the custom in her country, Priya’s family arranged a marriage for her. She and her handsome prince Lokram chose America as their new land and were soon blessed…
Let Us Now Praise Famous Women: Cheri and Cherri
Last week was national Administrative Assistants week, and I would like to pay tribute, today, to two of the finest ones I know. This also happens to be the last week I will be working with Cheri Dundon, (pictured on the right) my “partner in crime” for the last 4.5 years. Cheri will retire on…
Ava's Man: A Review And A Question for You
The top 100 memoirs list we are constructing here is not a scientific one. At the rate we are going, 81 posts in 9 months, and only 18 reviews so far, it will take five years to get to 100 memoirs! I’ve read many more than I have reviewed and have an entire bookcase of…
All Over but the Shoutin': A Review
This book reminds me of the wilted dandelions my son used to gather and bring to me in springtime–not the dandelions themselves but the look on his face, beaming with pride and ardor. Rick Bragg has never lost that feeling about his momma. He brought her all his winnings–first the Pulitzer Prize in journalism, then…
Memoir as a Healing Art
Becoming Whole: Writing Your Healing Story by Linda Joy Myers belongs in your library of books about memoir. Like Tristine Rainer’s Your Life as Story, Maureen Murdock’s Unreliable Truth: Memory and Memoir, Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, and Patty Miller’s The Memoir Book, all of which have been mentioned or reviewed here, this book…
Memoir and the Beautiful Sentence: Lenten Season Thoughts
My Lenten season reading this year includes Marilyn Chandler McEntyre’s extended meditation on the prayer of St. Patrick. I have written about Marilyn in previous blogs and have read several books of her poetry. My appreciation continues to grow for her spiritual and literary wisdom as I read more of her work. Christ, My Companion…
Let Your Life Speak: A Memoir Writer’s Memoir
Parker Palmer turned 70 years old today. I celebrated his birthday by re-reading his book Let Your Life Speak. I took the memoir lens in hand and went searching for how Parker uses his life story in this book. The code on the back jacket cover says “spirituality/work life” not “memoir.” But what if we…
Parker Palmer on Bill Moyers Journal: Ground On Which It's Safe to Stand
If you missed Parker Palmer’s appearance on Bill Moyers Journal last Friday, cheer up. Here it is. Apparently, the broadcast about illusion and reality in our current economic crisis, which included Parker talking about depression in his own life, cheered many people. Funny how truth does that–in just the paradoxical way that Parker himself explains…
Here If You Need Me: A Profoundly Beautiful Love
This weekend I read two memoirs: one from a Mennonite doctor who spent a year in Somalia as a medical missionary and one from a Unitarian Universalist minister who is a chaplain in Maine. Neither of these topics may sound like scintillating reads, but both of them were. The book about the Mennonite doctor will…
A Memoir that Awakens the Spiritual Version of the American Dream
This morning, as is our habit, my husband and I attended Skyridge Church of the Brethren. Our pastor Debbie preached about healing, using as a lectionary text Psalm 30, the one that promises, in the majestic language of the King James Bible, that “weeping endureth for the night but joy cometh in the morning.” This…