Linda Joy Myers, NAMW Prez

Here is the website of the National Association of Memoir Writers (NAMW).  The founder of this group, Linda Joy Myers, is a teacher and facilitator and her website lists lots seminars and teleseminars and memoir book reviews and in general all kinds of things to get you thinking and moving to write your own story.  The fact that she apparently has a cat bodes well for her credibility in my opinion.   Check her out.  Peace.

Lisa Hirsch talks about her Mom who has Alzheimer's

It's becoming a more and more familar story:  a parent has Alzheimer's and adult children beome the caregiver.  Lisa Hirsch has an inspirational blog which accents the positive of this new level of relationship with a parent.



"My new found love and relationship with my mom has touched my heart and soul deeply.  I have become so passionate and inspired to tell "our" story.  This is a true love story about my mom who suffers with Alzheimer's and has become my very best friend and my hero.  I invite you to join me to share how my mom every day inspires me with her strength, courage, love, wisdom and joyfullness....My blog is http://mommyhero.blogspot.com.  Thank you so much for wanted to put this together...."  Lisa Hirsch

Ellen Kagan in Medicaland

Today's featured memoir is Ellen Kagan's story, which I'm sure a lot of us can relate to:  trying to get appropriate care in a medical system which isn't geared for personal quirks and, if you are a patient in a teaching hospital, a fair number of the professionals who care for you are technically students.  Ellen was a patient in one of the best hospital systems in the country, so her story is even more poignant and alarming.  What I particularly admire about Ellen is that she tells her story on the radio, in a one-woman show to be produced in 2012, and on the net.  Her story is available on Kindle.

"My memoir, Ellen In Medicaland:True Stories of How I Fell Down Medicine's Black Hole and Still Lived After All is on Kindle. One chapter, Medical Care From Hell, is on my blog, www.elleninmedicaland.blogspot.com. My memoir tells of my off-the-wall, Twilight Zonish experiences as my Mom's caregiver and a patient at a Harvard-teaching hospital. 

To answer your questions, Bathsheba Monk: I am so proud of writing this book. It is truly empowering - to speak truth to power in a very outrageous way. I am now writing my one-woman show, based on Ellen In Medicaland, which I plan to perform in 2013. And for the past 17 years, I have been the Host/Producer of Your Health Care:Choice or Chance?, which teaches the public how to navigate the health system. There is Nothing like speaking the truth as you see it. And you do not need much money to do it. Just say it like it is. The best feeling in the world - and, in doing so, you empower other people. To learn more about what I do and to listen to some shows, log onto www.tvyourhealthcare.org.  Your Health Care:Choice or Chance? is on public access tv on Cape Cod, Wellesley and Burlington, as well as on podcast at www.tvyourhealthcare.org"...  Ellen Kagan

And now Ellen is writing about her adventures in Car-Land.  She's hitting all the hot buttons.

Christine Hannon's "A Hairdresser Diary"

Christine Hannon has a unique life--she paints, she writes, she does hair--and tells great tales about it.  And who doesn't go to the hairdresser?

"My memoir is about my years of hairdressing, The dreams, struggles, pain and satisfaction of success"....Christine Hannon.

Read about Christine Hannon and her book here.

Traveling a Rocky Road

About a month ago, I asked my pals on the Linkedin Memoir Writing group to send me their links to blogs and books.  Here is a link to Sylvia L. Ramsey and her book, Traveling a Rocky Road.  She sounds like a phenomenal person who has certainly had a tough journey and gives all the money from her book to the American Bladder Cancer Society.  Here is what she says: 

"My latest book was released Feb. 29th. of this year. It is an inspirational memoir, Traveling a Rocky Road with Love, Faith and Guts. I am a survivor and the purpose of the book is to inspire others that life is not easy, but you can overcome. It covers child abuse, polio, spousal abuse, divorce, caregiving, bladder cancer and more. " Sylvia L. Ramsey

 

The Pilot's House

Mary Lawlor is professor of Literature and American Studies at Muhlenberg College.  Her new book is a memoir about her relationship with her father, a remote iconic figure who flew fighter planes in World War II, the Korean War, South American junkets, and Vietnam.  She was the middle child of four girls, probably overlooked as a middle child, then burst on the scene in 1968 Paris, protesting the very war, Vietnam, her father was fighting in.  He comes from the jungle of southeast Asia to fetch her from the grip of what was in his mind the enemy.  It's a gripping tale on so many levels.  It's expected to be published this fall.   Click here to find out more about Mary Lawlor and her book, The Pilot's House. 

I interviewed Mary last night on WDIY, NPR affiliate station in the Lehigh Valley, and that interview will be posted here as soon as it is available. 

Cheers,
Bathsheba

Tell me a story.....

I'm looking for a few good stories, real stories, true stories, stories that touch your heart and make you glad you persevered.  Send me the links to your memoir with a 500 word Reader's Digest version of your story and I'll post it here.  Peace.