Dan Curtis ~ Professional Personal Historian

This Monday’s Link Roundup has some gems. One of these is Grandma taught our son a lot. If you read nothing else from my list, read this. It speaks eloquently of the power of passing on our stories to a younger generation. And close to my heart is a  link to the story about a Hospice in Florida that helps patients tell their life stories.

• Grandma taught our son a lot. “He earned $200 typing up her stories, but what he learned about our history was priceless.”

• Native Americans learn about culture preservation. “Culture is complicated for Native Americans, and so is its preservation. Without a record, some tribes left no trace. Passing culture down through the generations gets more complicated by a tradition of oral history that makes some elders suspicious of recordings and photography.”

• Davina’s old postcards inspire a family history. “A visit to an antique shop led a holidaymaker on a quest to find the history of a Lazonby family – and publish his findings.” [Thanks to Larry Lehmer at Passing It On for alerting me to this story.]

• Hospice’s Legacy Program lets patients tell their story, their way. “Hospice’s mission is to help people die with dignity and comfort. And doing what Kiesel did on Friday — tell his story, his way — can offer patients both, said Dawn Woodward, director of HPH’s east Pasco office.”

• Altman’s Passions Shine Through. “Robert Altman: The Oral Biography, …imitates Altman’s art. Mitchell Zuckoff, who had been working with Altman on a book about filmmaking when the celebrated director died in November 2006, took those interviews and cross-cut them with conversations with just about every person who figured in Altman’s life. The result is much like one of Altman’s movies: many voices overlapping, some in concert, some contradicting, all rushing headlong toward their version of the truth.”

• Fairmont’s History Told Through Podcasts. “Fairmont,West Virginia is a known for having a rich history, but teaching that history to the younger generations can be a challenge…Main Street Fairmont is using a $20,000 Preserve America Grant to record an oral history of the town, which will be edited into mini documentaries and put online available for downloads.”

• When Everything Changed, by Gail Collins. “In her new book … Gail Collins weaves research with oral history to describe an American society in the midst of change in the 1960s.”

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