Magical Memoir Moments

Our Neighborhood: A Twenty-First Century Community

The poet Gary Snyder once said, “Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there.” Stuart and I found a place called Stratford Woods four years ago, dug in (literally) with the first new house in a 22-lot development, and looked for an opportunity to help build community.  The picture above…

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Contests, Gilchrist, and a Poem: Mini-Memoir

Without the Kalamazoo Gazette Literary Award Competition of 2007, I would not be writing this blog.  Each year the announcement of the award kicks me into gear again, and I review what I have written that might fit.  The writing itself happens throughout the year, often in 2-3 day retreats at Gilchrist, the Fetzer Institute…

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Holding Class Outdoors: A Springtime Mini-Memoir

People often ask me, “What do you miss most about not being a college president anymore?”  My answer always is “the students.” Right now students and faculty at Goshen College are frantically preparing for the end of the semester and commencement. But I know what many of them will be doing tomorrow in 70-degree weather. …

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My Mother's Pulpit: Published Memoir, Contest Winner, Ethical Dilemma

Ask memoir writers what their greatest challenge is and many will say, “how and when do I share my writing with the relatives and friends who are part of my story?”  Up to now, when I finished a personal essay, I sent it off to my family to make sure there were no gross inaccuracies…

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Intellectual Awakening–A Mini-Memoir

I was in second grade.  The teacher put a word up on the chalk board and asked us to figure out what it was.  M-A-N-U-R-E Looking back, one wonders why Mrs. Rothenberger picked that word for a competition to motivate second graders, but at the time all I knew was that we were given a…

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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…

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If It's Worth Doing, It's Worth. . . a Guest Mini-memoir

DK Matai, a blogger and business executive I met in Geneva several years ago, sent out a message to his incredible world-wide network of friends that seemed like a pure gem of experience to me.  My father’s favorite saying was, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”  DK’s story is a more elegant, eloquent…

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What Have You Learned From Your Students?: A Mini-Memoir

If I had to boil down the answer to the question above to one word, what would that word be?  Curiosity, honesty, courage, persistence, gratitude, hope, forgiveness, love? And how did I learn it?  Was it from the student evaluations which came in a big, heart-thump-inducing envelope with CONFIDENTIAL stamped all over it?  Was it…

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Mini-Memoir: How Long Have I Been Teaching Memoir?

How long have I been teaching memoir writing? On its face, the answer is, “not very,” but I can also truthfully say “about 40 years.” How can both be true?  The recent teaching comes in the form of workshops I have blogged about previously– three sessions at the Fetzer Institute and two about workshops given…

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August 2, 1969

The Frugal Traveler: A Mini-Memoir

The pattern started on our honeymoon, 1969, 40 years ago.  Stuart had $600 in his checking account when we got married.  I spent all the money I earned that summer– the summer of my 21st birthday, the summer of Woodstock and the moon landing, and the summer of our wedding– on the wedding dress, flowers,…

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