Case studies Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Forever Young Autobiographies

Case study: Daughter’s podcast with her 83yo poet laureate dad

Creative memoir of emeritus professor of English Eugene B. Redmond

This week I have a radically honest and touching case study to share with you!

It is the story of how Dr Treasure Shields Redmond started a podcast with her well-known father Dr Eugene B. Redmond, age 83.

The show, The Memoir My Dad Wouldn’t Write, began in 2018 and has no topics off limits.

“It is a limited series of conversations between a daughter and a father about the things that make us family and the items in my dad’s life that have helped to shape who he is today,” Treasure said.

“You know he has had this incredible life as a cultural worker, poet, professor, activist and mentor but he wouldn’t write a memoir.

“So this podcast is a way to get those conversations onto tape and to find out exactly what shaped this incredible, complex – and far from perfect – man that I love.”

Let’s discover more about this fascinating life-story project plus Treasure’s tips for doing something similar of your own …

Case study: She Writes Press memoir The Red Kitchen by Barbara Clarke

What author Clarke wants you to know about writing her latest life story

In the lead up to International Women’s Day we are this week taking a close look at Barbara Clarke’s The Red Kitchen published by She Writes Press.

The intimate memoir, due out April 6, depicts change and discovery between mum and daughter — and how it’s never too late to come of age.

Previously Clarke published an indie memoir, Getting to Home: Sojourn in a Perfect House, about the process of building a house as a single woman.

And she has also written for corporate clients, trade magazines, worked under a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, nonprofit organisations, plus local and alternative newspapers.

So let’s find out more about Clarke’s new book, the writing process and her tips for fellow life-story writers …

Case study: Helping my 98yo grandmother write her autobiography

Part 1: A challenging and rewarding journey to record a special life story

It has been a year since I gave my grandma Bonnie the very first copy of her life story.

Certainly it’s a book that is close to her heart – a labour of love.

And given we marked St Valentine’s Day earlier this week, I thought it would be timely to look back on how I got started helping my grandmother write her autobiography.

Indeed, through this project I learnt much about this wonderful lady.

However, I also discovered much about planning and creating a life story.

So keep reading to find out more about Part 1 (see Part 2 and Part 3) and how you can sit down and create a similar family project …

Case study: Hang-glider star pens memoir The Phoenix Rising about traumatic brain injury and survival

Life story by nurse Helen Ross Lee shines spotlight on the amazing power of brain neuroplasticity

Helen Ross Lee is living proof that what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.

In 2008 the former high-achieving female hang-gliding competition pilot from Queensland, Australia, suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

The sportswoman, nurse and mother’s life was changed forever.

Over the past 12 years, Lee has slowly re-networked her brain to think, talk and walk plus found love again.

But one of her greatest rewards has been publishing her life-story book The Phoenix Rising.

“In writing my book, I have learned the art of survival. It has not been easy,” Lee said.

“I’ve learned some valuable things and I’ve had to let go of some things that were holding me back.

“I’ve learned that there’s a vast difference between knowledge, understanding and wisdom.”

So keep reading to find out more about Lee’s inspiring and extraordinary life-story journey …

Case study: Daughter helps retired Brisbane dad write his autobiography

Retiree editor uses surefire way to record father’s life story

First published June 14, 2018: This article has been updated and improved.

Beginning a life-story project is often about timing.

Certainly this was the case for former editor Jan and her father when they sat down to compile his autobiography in Brisbane, Queensland.

Indeed both were retired and considered the idea unbeknown to each other!

“I had been thinking about some sort of record of his life story for a while but hadn’t got any further than thinking about it,” Jan said.

“Once dad retired it seemed the time was right.

“While he now has spare time he seems to be really enjoying being retired but he enjoyed his life-story project and put a lot of effort into it.”

Jan started the life story with help from the Your Family Stories System and today gives us the lowdown on how the project unfolded plus what she found most rewarding …

Case study: Life coach pens powerful memoir Point Me to the Skies to help others

Jessica Lynn Jacquez on writing and growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area

New writer Jessica Lynn Jacquez’s mem o ir Point Me to the Skies is full of resilience, courage and faith.

The certified life coach was born in Oakland, California, and grew up trying to survive tumult and violence.

Firstly Jacquez says her relationship with her mother was defined by “deep-rooted brokenness and drug and alcohol abuse” but with hints of unconditional love.

Meanwhile her father was destructive and troublesome.

However, Jacquez was forced to escape after developing a relationship with a man who mirrored her turbulent past.

Indeed she made a powerful comeback “proving that anything is possible”.

Jacquez now lives with her husband David on America’s East Coast.

And this week she gives us a behind-the-scenes look at why and how she wrote the powerful life story plus valuable tips for new writers …

Case study: Retired school principal Terry pens memoir inspired by his grandfathers

Victorian retiree shares how he self-published his life story for family and friends

Retired principal Terence Bourke says his memoir Dance in the Rain was inspired by his late grandfathers and how little he knew about them.

“How intriguing it would be to know more about them and my great grandfathers,” he writes in the preface.

As a result, the 75-year-old recently celebrated his book’s launch with friends and family.

“My book consists of recollections of my life over the years,” he said.

Today Terry lives with his wife Sandra and their dogs in a beautiful bayside village on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, Australia.

And in this week’s article he shares his life-writing journey plus tips for others sitting down to write …

Case study: Secrets to writing my 100yo grandmother’s autobiography

Part 3: What every aspiring life-story writer ought to know about telling family stories

“It’s beautiful” my grandmother Bonnie, 99, said through tears as she took the first look at her printed autobiography book.

“We did it together,” she said hugging me.

My family and I were visiting Bonnie earlier this year in a nursing home and were excited to finally give her a reader’s copy of her life story.

She was soon flipping to a photo of her younger self with long plaits to show my daughter, 7, as her doctor and a nurse popped by.

“Isn’t that amazing! I’m so glad you did this,” Bonnie’s long-time doctor said shaking his head incrediously.

It had taken my grandmother and me four years of planning, writing, polishing and publishing to get to this point.

There had been some serious ups and downs along the way but the writing had been worth it.

This is the third and final article about Bonnie’s life-story project (see articles part one and part two here!).

So keep reading to find out how we went from final draft to finished autobiography book in time for her 100th birthday this month during a global pandemic.

Case study: Nurse’s memoir like stepping into Call The Midwife episode

How London’s Swinging Sixties inspired nurse Eira Bish’s IngramSpark publication

For retired nurse Eira Battaglia (nee Bish) writing her memoir The Silver Buckle was a natural extension of reminiscing about her student days.

Her 50 years of nursing started at South London’s St Giles’ Hospital during the momentous Swinging Sixties and included working in England, Canada and Australia.

Eira also trained nurses for 30 years and said today’s students were fascinated by her tales of an earlier era of nursing.

“I consider I have had a rich, wonderful career that my three years as a trainee in the 1960s was able to allow me to do so many things,” she said.

In this week’s case study, Eira shares more about her self-published book, the steps she took to have it published plus tips for new writers looking to do the same…

Life-writing example: When coronavirus serves up a new normal

One family’s take on bunkering down for stay-at-home COVID-19 quarantine

This week I’m sharing a life-writing example of my own.

It’s about our new ‘stay at home’ quarantine life thanks to coronavirus.

We are all living in dark and strange days of social distancing and self isolation.

So this is my take on life for my family and I as we bunker down from coronavirus.

Certainly, I know many of you are motivated at the moment to put pen to paper.

For instance, author and journalist Trent Dalton inspired me to draft this life-writing example through his Tales From the Bunker series.

Likewise I’d love to hear from you about your recent ‘bunker’ writing.