Donna Rankin Love walks the walk.....

Donna Rankin Love is 84 years old and still walking for peace and writing about it. So for those people who said they might be too old to start writing (or walking!) check out her books and blog.  And here's Donna:

"My most recent memoir, WALKING FOR OUR LIVES, chronicles the 5000 miles I walked in the 1980s for Peace. Pretty good for a girl born with crippled feet.*
In the first walk, The Great Peace March, 400+ walked 3,700 miles from Los Angeles to NYC to Washington, DC. This was followed by a Peace Walk in Russia and again in the US. These experiences changed me from a passive homemaker to a passionate peacemaker.
Since my 80th birthday, four years ago, I have published three memoirs. You may read excerpts on my blog: www.donnarankinlove.wordpress.com and see all three books on my web: www.donnarankinlove.vpweb.com

                                    ----Donna Rankin Love

Brad Holway remembers his father as Father's Day approaches....

Wonderful writer (and friend) Brad Holway has written some short memories of his father, a NYC transit worker.  What I love about these vignettes is the extraordinary ordinariness of the details which add up to a real live person.  Read the shorts below and then check out his book, chock full of the same marvelous detail, When Jack Was With Us here. 

Here's Brad:

AS FATHERS' DAY APPROACHES...

...I naturally think of my own father, who died almost twenty years ago. I'm not going to write the usual schmaltzy, smarmy tribute you often see at this time of year, when people depict their departed dads as saints. My father was a flawed human being, just like the rest of us. Instead, I prefer to share some fragmentary memories; some humorous, some poignant.

My father grew up in a suburb of Buffalo. Despite his many years in New York City, he never lost his Buffalonian accent. Now that I look backward in time, he probably reveled in it! He was a big fan of Jack Kennedy and would do JFK imitations that weren't very good. Ever hear a Buffalonian imitating a Bostonian? I can only describe it as a unique experience.

I enjoyed our trips to The Bronx Zoo, particularly our visits to the Reptile House. He used to call the snakes "sops". I guess that was a Buffalonian expression. He also called burgers "blowout patches".

I got in trouble in kindergarten for calling the teacher an "old toad". That trouble was so deep that the teacher demanded to see him; this was beyond having my mother get scolded. He returned and lectured me about not giving lip to the teachers but he added that this one really WAS an old toad.

When I was a kid, I was crazy about dinosaurs and I had a collection of those hard rubber dinos they used to sell at the "five-and-tens". He'd call my dinosaurs "prehistorics".

On Friday and Saturday nights, I was allowed to stay up as late as I wanted. My mother and I would watch horror and science fiction movies together. My dad, who was a transit worker, would come home at around 2:00 A.M. with a bagful of hot bagels. We'd slice them, slather them with butter and eat them while they were still practically steaming. I still remember that smell!

I could go on, but I won't. I just wanted to share a few fragments of memory as Fathers' Day approaches.

Happy Father's Day to you, too, Brad

Karen Fisher-Alaniz breaks the code

Karen Fisher-Alaniz has written a memoir about her father and, like a lot of people, her memoir about someone close to her has triggered strong emotions in others.  Here's Fisher-Alaniz:

"While promoting my memoir, I often hear people's regrets. We all think we'll have more time to get our loved one's stories recorded. We're waiting for the perfect time. Sadly, often time runs out...

So, I've decided to do something about that. I just announced something I'm calling the Story Sharing Revolution on my website. All you have to do is commit to sitting down with one person in your life. Listen to one story and record it in some way; write it, video tape it, audio record...whatever. It's as simple as that. To launch the Revolution, I am sponsoring a contest on my blog. All you have to do is answer a question, and you're entered to win a double signed copy of my book, Breaking the Code: a Father's Secret, a Daughter's Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything. Tell your friends about it and your name gets entered even more times. The more people we get to join us, the better. I'd love it if you'd join me. Together we can change the world - one story at a time!" ~Karen 

A story about a truck....the great Susan Straight

Here's a link to an essay by Susan Straight who made a special presentation on place in memoir at the Memoir Writing Conference on April 28.  If you've ever enjoyed a love affair with a vehicle, you'll love this one.  Enjoy!

Tessa Dunlop's Love Story

Tessa Dunlop's riveting new memoir is a love story--and who doesn't love a love story?-- has just been published. 

"Hi my memoir 'To Romania with Love' is published May 2012. There's more about it on my website  and amazon In short I went to work in an orphange in post-Revolution Romania aged 18, returned a year later where I met a 12 year old boy. .... forward wind and he is now my husband, the book is our story - a country turmoil and finding love in unexpected places." Tess Dunlop