Magical Memoir Moments
Our Friend Joel’s Life Legacy: Eternal Laughter and Love
I had planned to write about graduation. Now it is otherwise. I had planned to enjoy a riotous old age with this man as friend. Now it is otherwise. Our friend Joel, cartoonist, script writer, story teller, died May 8. He was walking with his wife Nancy. The hidden clot in his lung grabbed him….
Staring Death in the Face: How I Became a Gutsy Mennonite Memoirist
Are Mennonites “gutsy”? How about memoirists? My guess is that you may have had more problem answering “yes” to the first question than to the second. So here’s a Mennonite confession. I’ve always admired gutsy-ness. If you read to the very end of this post, you’ll understand why. First, let me introduce you to a…
Connecting Through the Power of Love and Forgiveness: Two Mennonites at Breakfast
I invited Jim Smucker to breakfast at Mr. J’s Bagels, within walking distance of both our houses, this morning. I wanted to say thanks to him for agreeing to sponsor the Sweet and Sour food collection as a prize to the person who wins the 100 Day Challenge. Jim has recently moved to Virginia and…
A Story for Father's Day: What I Learned About Love from Daddy
My father was a farmer. He was just 23 years old when I was born. Three years later, my brother Henry entered our world. We were sharecroppers living on an 80-acre dairy farm near Manheim, Pennsylvania. My memories of this farm are almost entirely happy ones. Almost. Below is an excerpt from Chapter 15, “Dueling…
Doris Kearns Goodwin on Work, Love, Play, and a Bit of Memoir
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin combines her knowledge of American presidents with Eric Erickson’s observation that we need to balance three needs–love, work, and play–in order to be fulfilled people. She describes Lincoln’s love of the theater and storytelling and contrasts his ability to play with Lyndon Johnson’s fixation on work. She herself has mastered the…
Love and Death: Forrest Church's Testimony and a Mini-Memoir
Forrest Church’s voice rings in my head today. I finished his memoir last night, and many of his themes are ones deeply embedded in my own life. His 2008 book, Love & Death: My Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow, published by Beacon Press, focuses on the two big ideas of the title, especially…
Mini-Memoir: What I Learned from Students in Haiti and the Ivory Coast (on SST)
The question comes to me from a blogger in Orange County, CA, who has a following in her own blog from ex-patriots all over the world. What did you learn from your students in Haiti and in the Ivory Coast? First of all, you need to know about the Goshen College Study-Service Term (SST). This…
Six-Word Memoir Valentine's Day Special
If you have not yet discovered the joy of the six-word memoir, here’s a past post that will fill you in–a lecture at Google by the authors of this book: And if you missed this week’s long NPR segment on six-word memoirs on love and heartbreak, here’s the link that will take you there. Below…
Memoir and Love: The Vital Connection
All during the long holiday season/vacation I took this year, I have been mulling over the connection between memoir and love. Intuition tells me things that I can only later articulate. This has happened to me all my life. I love the story, whether it be true or apocryphal, that Einstein saw himself riding on…