Magical Memoir Moments

Let Us Now Praise Independent Bookstores, Public Libraries, and Local Newspapers

If it weren’t for independent bookstores and my local newspaper I would not be writing this blog. So this post is all about thanks and praise. There’s a role for you to play too, so keep reading! I got the idea to praise these outstanding local institutions by reading this delightful Ann Patchett essay in…

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Memoir as Potential Social Movement

Last Friday, The Kalamazoo Gazette published an op-ed I wrote. Its conclusion contains the revolutionary idea that if all of us finished the tasks (see below or click link above) we need to accomplish before a “good” death is possible, we would have years to live free of the fear of death and thus could…

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Contests and Memoir

I have always enjoyed biography, autobiography, and the personal essay, but my study of memoir as a subject is only two years old.  It started when I saw a 2007 literary contest announcement in the local newspaper, The Kalamazoo Gazette.  The three categories were poetry, short story and memoir. That choice was easy, since my…

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