My very first legacy memoir author was one of my most favorite people in the world, Evelyn Johnson Svendsen, who was also my husband’s aunt. For years she’d struggled to write her immigrant mother’s story.
Her mother, Ida Johnson, immigrated from Sweden in 1905 speaking not one word of English. Five years later she was a dedicated suffragette and registered nurse visiting the slums of Chicago and working in a major hospital. Ten years later she was living in Nowhere, Idaho, raising two daughters and assisting the local doctor—without pay, of course. After all, she was a married woman.
One of those two daughters would become my much-loved mother-in-law, Sylvia, and the other, of course, was Evelyn.
In 2007, while I working as a freelance business writer, Evelyn pulled out her legacy memoir project. After ten years of occasional thought and effort, she had 15 handwritten pages. I decided to jump in and see if I could help.
I quickly realized I knew nothing about memoir-writing, or about interviewing, transcribing, sharing drafts, capturing voice, selecting pictures, or the printing process. I searched and found a lot about how to write your own memoir and why you should, but nothing about writing someone else’s memoir.
It wasn’t pretty, but I muddled through. And fell in love with legacy ghostwriting.
Today I’ve ghostwritten or edited nearly thirty legacy memoirs. I’ve built a thriving business that brings me into authors’ lives in a unique, highly personal way. I’ve guided authors through the journey of living their life over, which left them with a deeper appreciation for who they were and who they’ve become. It’s quite an experience.
Now I want to share what I’ve learned.
With this blog I’ll be building a body of information that will guide you through the rich, amazing, meaningful, and delightful experience of writing a legacy memoir. I’ll offer tips, strategies, anecdotes, and practicalities. My goal is to share practicalities about writing legacy memoirs but, more importantly, to spread the word. Legacy memoirs are important! To the author, yes, but more so to the author’s audience.
A legacy memoir isthe gift that keeps on giving.