<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>I am in the midst of copy-editing my partner's (Mary) own memoir
of about 300 pages, she has been a spotty journal keeper
throughout her adult life, but the sections where she IS able to
include quotes from "that moment" are acutely real. She is also
a poet, so various poems written at those moments or inspired by
the events add another dimension. <br>
</p>
<p>My own grandfather was a chronic journaler, starting at age 18
with a small pocket-journal he scribbled observations in from
Europe at the end of WWI. It is shockingly real to see the
pencil marks this man made a good 60 years before I ever saw
them. I was told I reminded people a lot of him, though all I
knew of him in person was a "grumpy old man" that I only saw every
few years. I think he was 60 when I was born. He was not
particularly introspective, but a lifetime of observations about
the world around him painted a picture as much of the artist as
the subjects.</p>
<p>As part of this exercise, we have read a lot of memoirs and
memoiresque essays, mostly by poets and other writers who are
reflecting on their own writing process. I have been very
impressed with these self-expose's. Stephen King's "On Writing"
and several of Mary Karr's memoiresque collections come to mind.</p>
<p>- Steve<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/25/19 2:33 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:201904252033.x3PKXsCh070987@ame1.swcp.com">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div>It doesn't have to be a big piece of national history if it
is well told, which is of course an art. I think Robert McKee's
book "Story" contains a lot of good ideas.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>It also depends if you have good material, for example
personal journals or diaries. Personal journals are priceless.
The part on page 6/7 where a journal entry is a quoted feels
real and authentic, a bit as if you experience "Wild Cat Creek"
yourself. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size:100%;color:#000000"><!-- originalMessage -->
<div>-------- Original message --------</div>
<div>From: Pamela McCorduck <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:pamela@well.com"><pamela@well.com></a> </div>
<div>Date: 4/26/19 01:16 (GMT+01:00) </div>
<div>To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:friam@redfish.com"><friam@redfish.com></a> </div>
<div>Subject: Re: [FRIAM] New Mexico Legacy </div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
Your kids, and especially your grandchildren, will so appreciate
this kind of memoir. Often, local historical societies welcome a
copy too, because the memoir is fine-grained enough to appeal to
somebody doing local history, even if it isn’t a big piece of
national history.
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
<div>
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On Apr 25, 2019, at 12:20 PM, Jochen Fromm
<<a href="mailto:jofr@cas-group.net" class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">jofr@cas-group.net</a>> wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=UTF-8" class="">
<div class="">
<div class="">Today the book from Frank arrived, after I
ordered it at Amazon recently, and I have read it in
the evening. When I read the name "Kayser" of the
grandparents I thought they must have a German
background, since "Kaiser" is the German word for
emperor. (One of my German colleagues is named Kaiser
too). And a few pages later I read that they are
indeed descendants of German immigrants. Fascinating.
It was also interesting to read about the USS
Baltimore. I like the idea of writing down the story
of the own family to preserve it for future
generations. The digital world is so short-lived and
temporary.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Cheers,</div>
<div class="">Jochen</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div id="composer_signature" class="">
<div style="font-size:85%;color:#575757" dir="auto"
class=""><br class="">
</div>
</div>
</div>
============================================================<br class="">
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<br class="">
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College<br
class="">
to unsubscribe <a
href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a><br
class="">
archives back to 2003: <a
href="http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/" class=""
moz-do-not-send="true">http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/</a><br
class="">
FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a>
by Dr. Strangelove<br class="">
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a>
archives back to 2003: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/">http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/</a>
FRIAM-COMIC <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a> by Dr. Strangelove
</pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>