It is with great sadness that I note the passing of the great Michael Collins, a founding board member of Life Stories Australia and long-time ghostwriter, who died aged 75. Michael was a great mentor to me. When I first started as a life story writer he was often sage in understanding how clients think and how to work well with them. Michael often told great anecdotes about his own life, but…
Who is Deborah Gough? How did she end up writing life stories? Some of her story is revealed on Radical Australia on radio station 3CR with host Dr Joe Toscano. The podcast is available by clicking the image. Deborah Gough with one of her books, Warren & Brown: The First 100 Years at radio station 3CR. Deborah with Radical Australia host Dr Joe Toscano on 3CR.
Melbourne's west lost one of its greatest story collectors in Peter Haffenden, who for decades devoted himself to the Living Museum of the West. I approached his family and asked whether they might like me to write an obituary for Peter. After some discussion with writer Arnold Zable, we decided I'd have a crack at it. What an entertaining life Peter had - living the Carlton-St Kilda scene when it was really…
When I first became a memoir writer and life story teller, I cast around for a group of colleagues who were like-minded. I also wanted some guidance on a code of ethics when working with clients to tell their stories. Questions like whose story is it anyway? If a memory is flawed or incomplete what should a life story teller do? I found Life Stories Australia - a small band of men…
Women's voices: Helen Reddy, Long Hard Climb. Capitol Records - Billboard, 11, August 1973, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org Women's voices letting out your inner roar The day the great Helen Reddy had died, I was speaking to another strong mother about telling women’s voices and their stories. She is smart and the family organiser – a logistics make-it-happen family member. We talked about her admirable parents and their partnership. Then we began talking…
Just why do some women resist telling their story and why they should.
We come from tough stock. Hearing our family history will help us realise we will survive coronavirus. State Library Victoria/Bert Knights, c1930 Domain, Sydney. Nearly every person you speak to when you start asking about family stories will have a story of lament. Their parents, an aunt, uncle, cousin or friend who should have written their life story. They just never got around to it or they might do it one day.…
It's hard not to feel panic or at least anxiety when faced with an unknown virus. Coronavirus can get into you and leave you feeling mildly unwell, but you can carry it to someone you know and they could die. Far out! It's the stuff of science fiction novels, but it's our reality now. One thing has truly disturbed me - beyond shoppers brawling over toilet paper - and it's this sense…
This is something I had published elsewhere. It's not life story telling, but it gets the message across about thinking on your feet. Believe it or not, you need that when a life story teller throws a curly one at you. I wrote my first ever news room story on a typewriter. Each paragraph was numbered and printed on carbon paper – one page to the editor, one to the sub-editor…
A good effect too is to start with the people who came before you. Your memories of your parents, grandparents can help give life to a family tree chart. Interesting aunts and uncles and their stories can give real context to your life and the way you lived it back then.