Your Memoir, the Way You Want It | | | |  | |
Write Your Roots: The Power of Genealogy and Family History Projects
In April I took a dream-come-true heritage trip to France with my 85-year-old father. Drawing on his extensive genealogical research, we visited places our ancestors lived before the first of them emigrated to Québec and Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia) in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was a powerful, transformative experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Since my return, I’ve been positively itching for dedicated writing time to build on the daily journaling I did in France. Knowing this, a dear friend of mine sent me an enamel pin emblazoned with the words “WRITE YOUR ROOTS.” Instead of wearing it on a jacket, I stuck the pin into a bulletin board by my desk at Modern Memoirs as a visual reminder of the promise I’ve made to myself that I will carve out writing time soon.
Meanwhile, I’ve immersed myself in client projects, many of which include, or are fully devoted to, genealogical research. As I pore over ancestry and descendants charts meticulously drawn up by Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg, review Book Designer Nicole Miller’s gorgeous cover designs inspired by clients’ family histories, and confer with Director of Publishing Ali de Groot for her sensitive-yet-exacting take on manuscripts, I return again and again to the question:
What compels us to “write our roots,” to learn about and document our ancestors’ lives?
In addition to gratitude, love, and plain old curiosity, I find myself trying to articulate a response that feels more spiritual than anything else since this work, my learning about my ancestry, and our trip all make me feel connected, grounded, or rooted, if you will, in the lives of those who have long since gone from this world. As I said to my dad one night in France, I am just a tiny speck on this planet, and I feel even smaller when I consider not just the place in which I exist, but the brief time of my existence in the sweep of human history. But that smallness isn’t overwhelming when I consider the greatness of the miracle of my existence and of every human being’s existence.
Recent correspondence with a potential client touched on the sense of the miraculous I’m attempting to describe when she shared the following quotation from poet Linda Hogan (Chickasaw):
“Suddenly, all my ancestors are behind me;
Be still, they say; Watch and listen;
You are the result of the love of thousands.”
The very odds of our existence are miraculous, aren’t they? And while Hogan’s words could strike some readers as an idealized take on ancestry, I find them moving and inspirational, too. Studies have shown that knowledge of family history has tremendous benefits for children’s developing self-concept, and my heritage trip with my father, not to mention my work with many clients over the years, has only convinced me further of the invaluable gifts that genealogy can provide to us all.
Megan St. Marie
President
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Megan St. Marie (right) with her father, Raymond Lambert, in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France, April 2023
The Franco American Centre at the University of Maine-Orono will host Megan St. Marie and her father, Raymond Lambert, for an online presentation on June 8, 2023 at 1 p.m. EST entitled “Dans les Pas de Nos Ancêtres (In the Steps of Our Ancestors): A Father-Daughter Trip to France.” They will connect the dots between Raymond’s research and their travels, while also offering tips for planning heritage trips. Join online if you can!
Click Here to Register
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We are proud to highlight Resisting Jim Crow: The Autobiography of Dr. John A. McFall as the featured title in our online shop, Memory Lane Books & Gifts. This remarkable volume contains Dr. McFall’s complete and never-before-published manuscript, which his grandniece Lahnice McFall Hollister discovered while conducting genealogical research. Determined to share this extraordinary story of a life spanning the decades between the end of Reconstruction and the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka desegregation ruling in 1954, Hollister approached Modern Memoirs upon the recommendation of a repeat client. We were honored to help with pre-press services and are now eager to bring this compelling book to readers everywhere.
Purchase Your Copy Today!
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Welcome Back Emma Solis as
Our New Publishing Associate!
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We are delighted to announce the return of Emma Solis, who served as the Smith College PRAXIS Program summer intern with us in the summer of 2022. Emma graduated from Smith College just a couple of weeks ago, and in her new role at Modern Memoirs, her title is Publishing Associate. She will work closely with the rest of our staff on a variety of tasks related to client projects and she will also help develop the new retail arm of the business, Memory Lane Books & Gifts.
Read More About Emma Here
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Featured Blog Posts by Our Staff | |
Seeking the True Story
By Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg
“I’ve recently completed researching and writing a 460-page commissioned genealogy for a client. It was a massive undertaking, involving fascinating characters and contexts, and it’s almost hard to believe I finished it!”
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Reflections from Client
D. Patrick Winburn
Interview by Liz Sonnenberg
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Sample genealogy charts in memoir/family history books |
Genealogy Charts:
Visual Pathways to the Ancestors
by Ali de Groot
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When our clients/authors write about ancestors in their memoirs, there’s often information missing. “I think her maiden name was…” or “Nobody knows where he was born…” We always ask, “Would you like us to do further research on these relatives to fill in the gaps?” Many clients agree, and off we start down the genealogy path, which hopefully isn’t down a rabbit hole. Our professional genealogist helps to avoid the common pitfalls and missteps of well-intentioned researchers. (See Liz Sonnenberg’s blog post “Watch Out for Loose Freds.”)
Genealogy charts can greatly enhance a memoir or family history, just as a beautiful book cover can set the stage for the reader. Placed at the start of the book, just like a map, a simple ancestor chart and descendants chart can improve the reader’s experience. I’ve had clients shrug it off, saying, “Oh, everyone in my family knows who’s who!” But they don’t realize that future readers, though family members, won’t necessarily know who’s who. Take this photo caption: “My parents’ wedding photo.” As the editor, I always ask, “Whose parents? What are their full names?” even if I know the answer and even if it’s written a few pages earlier in the text. I suggest that the author complete all captions accurately. Then the reader can turn to the genealogy chart at the front and figure out the relationships.
Genealogy charts act as visual anchors to one’s ancestors. After writing an entire book, it only makes sense to spend the extra time and money to provide a clean, visual chart to clarify key players and relationships. Your readers will appreciate it!
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May Question: If you could step back in time and take part in an activity with an ancestor, who would the ancestor be, and what would you do? | |
Staff responses
Megan St. Marie: I know less about my Irish roots than I do my French, so I’d love to meet my maternal great-grandmother Frances “Fannie” Philamena Fox, who emigrated from County Galway in 1911. Maybe we’d watch a boxing match since that was a favorite pastime of hers, but mostly I’d just listen to her tell stories in her Irish brogue.
Sean St. Marie: I’d love to meet my maternal grandfather, Charles J. Sheridan, at the time when my mom and her siblings were children, just to see what their home life was like and have dinner with them.
Ali de Groot: I would want to meet my maternal great-grandmother Henrietta Loewus and have tea and learn about her family.
Emma Solis: I would love to go back in time and cook with my Spanish ancestors, especially my great-grandmother Calela, who I’ve heard was an extraordinarily lovely person and amazing cook.
Liz Sonnenberg: My maternal great-great grandfather Johann Heinrich “Henry” Ahlers; I would go to the opening of the music hall he built on one corner of his farmland in La Motte, Iowa.
Nicole Miller: I would love to be in the audience at a music performance of my maternal grandparents. My grandmother was a singer and my grandfather played the piano.
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Memory Lane Stroll
We’d love to hear your brief personal reflections on the question of the month (at left). Write your response for a chance to be featured in the next edition of our e-newsletter!
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Responses to April’s question: Who is a favorite poet of yours?
“My favorite poet these days is Denise Levertov. Sam Hammill wrote of her in The American Poetry Review: ‘Book by book, I have read her poems for their subtle music, for their imagination, for their author's dignity and integrity and grace; and most of all, for the indomitable and humble spirit that hungers there.’”
—Hank Lambert
“Kahlil Gibran.”
—Juanita Carlson
“Walt Whitman.”
—Ray Lambert
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417 West Street, Suite 104
Amherst, MA 01002
www.modernmemoirs.com
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