Magical Memoir Moments
Memoir Contest: Seven Hours Left!
Sorry that I just learned about this contest today. But if you have a memoir manuscript ready to go, it won’t matter. All you have to do is follow the guidelines at this Guide to Literary Agents website. Good luck!
Huston Smith's Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine–A Review
If you want to spring out of bed tomorrow morning, saying, “Good!” I suggest you read this book the night before. And if you want a role model for how to age with zest and enthusiasm, even to the extent of looking forward to death as the last great adventure, Huston Smith is your man….
Man on Wire: Enough Inspiration for Film, Memoir, Novel
Philippe Petit has blown me away. And so has this film about his life, focused on the day in August,1974, when he walked on a cable stretched between the South Tower and North Tower of the World Trade Center. I loved the music, graphics, and juxtapositions in this film. Petit is such a clown-like, dancer-like,…
Want to Create Your Own Memoir Course? Here's a Syllabus to Get You Started
Melanie Springer Mock wrote a very insightful comment on my review of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. I learned that she teaches memoir writing at George Fox University, which led me to request a copy of her syllabus. She was kind enough to share it. So I include it in its entirety below. A…
Ben Yagoda's Memoir: A History on the Kindle–A Double Review
Ben Yagoda’s history of the memoir genre should make any other survey redundant. He’s performed a great service, not only to readers and writers but also to the new field of nonfiction/memoir studies. As promised previously, I will describe not only what I learned from reading the book but also from reading it on the Kindle. First,…
The Blind Side and Invictus: Two Movies Worth Watching
I have always been a sucker for a good sports story–even though as a Mennonite farm girl I was not allowed to play competitive sports myself. One Saturday afternoon in the mid 1960’s, while I was performing one of my weekly chores–vacuuming my parents’ bedroom–I tuned the radio dial to the local station hoping to…
Roger Ebert: His Drinking/Recovery Memoir
You know Roger Ebert as a film critic, one of the best in the business. But on August 25, Roger Ebert came out to the world as a recovering alcoholic in his blog in the Chicago Sun-Times called “Roger Ebert’s Journal.” After 30 years of sobriety and an operation that left him physically unable to…
So How ’bout that Toast?: A Mini-Memoir
Our son Anthony and our new daughter-in-law Chelsea were married September 12 at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Manhattan. It’s time to share more of the story that has been unfolding here since they announced their engagement. I described the synchronicity in their meeting–their origin story involving Forrest Church and Match.com here. And…