Dan Curtis ~ Professional Personal Historian

Entries tagged as ‘Life stories’

Life Stories and Palliative Care. When Time Is Running Out, What Do You Focus On?

July 22, 2010 · 3 Comments

At  Victoria Hospice we’re into the third year of a Life Stories  service for patients registered with Hospice.  This is a program that I initiated and continue to be involved with as  a trainer and a mentor for our Life Stories Volunteer Interviewers.

Among the concerns that have arisen for the Interviewers, one, in particular, has been problematic. What part of a Life Story do you focus on when it appears patients may have only a few weeks or days to live? Patients may initially indicate that they want to talk about the broad spectrum of their lives from childhood to the present. The reality, unfortunately, is that they’re not likely to have enough time to complete such an undertaking.

Here’s what I’ve suggested. The Hospice Interviewer and patient agree to start with contemplative questions first. These are questions that reveal something of who the person, rather than the details of their life. If time permits, they can always go back to talk about childhood beginnings and the important stories from their life. So what might some of these contemplative questions be? Here are some samples.

  • What would you like to say to your loved ones?
  • What has been important in your life?
  • What are you the proudest of in your life?
  • What do you admire most about each of your children?
  • What has brought happiness to your life?
  • What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned in life?
  • What regrets do you have?
  • How would you like to be remembered?
  • What is it that most people don’t know about you?
  • What are you grateful for?

Even if you’re not involved with palliative-care patients, you may find yourself at times interviewing someone who’s very frail and elderly. There’s no guarantee that time is on your side. In such cases you may want to give some thought as to what’s  essential to record. Focusing on more contemplative questions may be the answer.

Photo by Jill  Watson

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Categories: End of life · How to · Interviewing · Life stories · Palliative care · Personal historian · Questions
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Are You Using Storytelling to Promote Your Personal History Service?

July 15, 2010 · 1 Comment

For most of the 190,000 years that humans have been alive on this earth, they’ve learned their most important information, including survival skills, culture, religion, etc., through stories. The human brain, in fact, is wired specifically so that stories, and storytelling, have a much stronger emotional impact than information that’s presented quantitatively or according to some other emotionless structure.

~ marketing guru, Michael Bosworth

It’s the right side of our brain that harbors our creativity and emotions. It’s where storytelling has its impact. People are drawn to telling their personal histories by such deep seated desires as  leaving a legacy, capturing fond memories, or finding meaning in their lives.  They’ll ultimately make a decision to engage your services based on emotional not quantitative information. If you’re not making “storytelling” a part of  your presentation, you’re losing clients. In a BNET interview with Michael Bosworth he says,

The emotional brain is where the ‘aha’ moments happen. Where the “I want that” or “I need that” feelings happen. The buyer has “gut reaction” and an image that allows them to make an emotional decision, such as the decision to trust someone or buy something. They can feel it and see it rather than quantifying.

How can you use storytelling to engage prospective clients?

Here are four tips:

  1. Start with a story from your own experience. Your story should convey the delight, poignancy, and impact that life stories can have for individuals and their families. For me, the story I previously wrote, When Small Can Be Profound, about a dying mother and her young child is a powerful reminder of the invaluable  nature of our work.
  2. Borrow a story. If  you don’t have a personal story  that suits your needs, then find one that does. For example, in  How a Prehistoric Cave Painting Came to My Rescue, I found symbolism that spoke to my suspicion that storytelling is part of our DNA. Another story I want to use some day is  from James Loewen’s book Lies My Teacher Told Me. He writes that in some African societies,

The recently departed whose time overlapped with people still here are the Sasha, the living dead. They are not wholly dead, for they live on in the memories of the living … when the last person knowing an ancestor dies, that ancestor leaves the Sasha for the Zamani, the dead.

One might say that the Zamani are truly dead for no one currently living knew them. What a powerful reason for ensuring that our loved one’s stories are preserved so that they might continue to live in the hearts of those far into the future.

3. Be a good listener. This shouldn’t be difficult for personal historians. That’s what we do! It’s important to listen for the stories that are behind a person’s interest in hiring you. Ask questions that will help draw these stories out. They might be stories that relate to leaving a recorded legacy or perhaps a document that speaks to their beliefs, values, and wisdom learned. Whatever it is, be assured that there are very real emotional reasons for someone wanting to record a life story.

4. Retell your clients’ stories. In retelling your clients’ stories you not only demonstrate that you’re a good listener but you also help reinforce your clients’ “right brain” reasons for wanting to record a life story. As Michael Bosworth says,

Then, and only then, are you ready to sell, because then you can retell the customer story with a different ending or a new sequel, with your offering playing a role in the story. It’s also useful to have a quiver of “here’s how I’ve helped other people” stories, so that you can help the prospect visualize a future that includes you and your offering.

What of your own experience? Have you used stories to promote your personal history service?

Image by Ronda  Del Boccio

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Categories: How to · Life stories · Marketing · Personal historian · Tips
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I’m Celebrating!

July 8, 2010 · 4 Comments

This week marks an important anniversary for me. Drum roll, please!

Two years ago I launched this blog and wrote my first post. Since then I’ve written  310 articles and 41,365 viewers have visited the site. A big thank you to all of you who’ve dropped by. And a special thanks to those who’ve taken the time to leave a comment or two.

From the collection of articles, I’ve selected 15 of my favorites. These are not necessarily the ones that received the most attention from readers but they are the posts that I really like and I think deserve an encore. For those of you who haven’t seen these posts, I invite you to stop awhile and have a read.

Photo by Jule_Berlin

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Categories: How to · Inspiration · Life stories · Marketing · Palliative care · Personal Care · Personal historian · Resources · Tips
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Monday’s Link Roundup.

July 5, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Another Monday and a roundup of some of my  favorite links.  If you love design as much as I do, don’t miss An industry in re-covery. It looks at how good design may yet save the printed book from the onslaught of e-books. Still uncertain what you should be charging for your work? For some helpful tips, take a look at How Should Freelance Writers Determine What Price to Charge?

  • Listening to History. “Developed organically in a series of improvisatory workshops, based on real people in a real place over a 90-year period, and conceived without a conventional script, The Tosca Project presented a particularly complex challenge. What kind of information would be most helpful to the process? Where could we find it? How could we make it accessible to the cast and creators?”
  • How Should Freelance Writers Determine What Price to Charge? “If you’re a freelance writer (or if you hire freelance writers), then you may have a difficult time determining what the market price for writing is. Of course, your lowballing client would have you believe that nearly all writers work for practically nothing at all–but, don’t you believe them.”
  • An industry in re-covery. “To give new life to old titles, publishers are turning to what e-books can’t offer yet: great design.”
  • And Now, the Tricky Part: Naming Your Business. “As many entrepreneurs can attest, deciding on a name for a new business is no easy task. One with pizzazz can set a new company apart; one that misses the mark can make a burgeoning start-up fall flat.The problem, marketing and branding experts agree, is that there is no magic bullet to picking the best name.” [Thanks to Diane Dassow of Binding Legacies for alerting me to this item.]
  • Exploring My America. “We’re asking engaging, adventurous people to hit the road for a week and tell their story and the stories of the people they meet. Does that sound like you? The program will run from July 11 through August 28, 2010. Over the course of the program, we’ll launch three road trip teams on different routes each week. Each team’s mission is to interact with people along their assigned route, capture interesting stories of unique personalities and places throughout their journey, and upload their stories to the program website.”

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How to Establish a “Life Stories” Hospice Program. Part Two

July 1, 2010 · 4 Comments

In Part One, I wrote about the need to be familiar with the academic research on life stories and palliative care. In Part Two, I want to highlight five other factors to consider when establishing a life stories program at your local hospice. If you want to be credible and succeed, here’s what to do:

  • Become a hospice volunteer. This is the route I took. If you’re going to work with people at the end of life, it helps immeasurably if you’re trained as a hospice volunteer. First, you gain experience and a level of comfort being with people who are dying. Second, it  signals to the hospice administration that you are serious and committed to helping patients in palliative care. Third, and most importantly, you become a familiar and trusted part of the hospice care team.
  • Keep your hospice “life stories” work separate from your personal history business. It’s critical to your success in establishing a program to assure hospice administration that you’re not using the hospice to recruit clients for your business. I’ve been scrupulous in not mixing my business with my hospice work.
  • Find a hospice manager who’ll champion your idea. In most cases this individual will be the person responsible for volunteer services or it might be the manager of psychosocial  services or spiritual care. This will be the person you’ll need to convince that a life stories program is worthwhile and complements other hospice services. This manager will also have to bring other members of the hospice management team on board with your idea. It’s important that you establish a good rapport with your “champion”.
  • Keep it simple. You want to keep the time and costs involved to a minimum, especially because you’re providing a free service. This is why the program I initiated at Victoria Hospice only offers unedited audio recordings of patient interviews. Do make sure that the Hospice covers the cost of any materials you provide.
  • Build in a program to train other life story volunteers. It’s inevitable that you’ll soon find there are more requests than you can handle. Besides, you’ll not be able to devote all your time to offering a free service unless you’re fabulously wealthy! Here’s another point to take into consideration. Ideally, you should be planning for a program that will continue even when you’re no longer involved.

Photo © Dušan Zidar | Dreamstime.com

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Categories: End of life · How to · Life stories · Palliative care · Personal historian
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How to Establish a “Life Stories” Hospice Program. Part One

June 30, 2010 · 2 Comments

Those of you interested in building a sustainable life stories program at your local hospice will need more than good will and enthusiasm although that helps.  I hope that the experience I gained in establishing a life stories service at Victoria Hospice will be of help to you.

One of the factors that weighed in my favor was the growing academic research supporting the value of life stories. It’s not uncommon for some medical professionals to see life stories as a frill, not something that can complement end-of-life support. Being armed with the relevant research can bolster your proposal.

Here’s a suggestion. Before attempting to initiate a hospice life stories program, familiarize yourself with the research. Two studies in particular that I’d recommend are :

Dignity Therapy: A Novel Psychotherapeutic Intervention for Patients Near the End of Life. Harvey Max Chochinov, Thomas Hack, Thomas Hassard, Linda J. Kristjanson, Susan McClement, and Mike Harlos.  Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2005; Vol. 23, No. 24

Ninety-one percent of participants reported being satisfied with  Dignity Therapy; 76% reported a heightened sense of dignity; 68% an increased sense of purpose; 67% a heightened sense of meaning; 47% an increased will to live; 81% reported that it had already, or would be of help to their family.

Legacy Activities as Interventions Approaching the End of Life. Rebecca S. Allen, Michelle M. Hilgeman, Margaret A. Ege, John L. Shuster, Louis D. Burgio. Journal of Palliative Medicine. September 2008, 11(7): 1029-1038. doi:10.1089/jpm.2007.0294.

Intervention patients reported decreased breathing difficulty and increased religious meaning. Caregivers and patients reported greater social interaction on the part of the patient. All participants in the intervention group initiated a Legacy activity and reported that Legacy improved family communication. Legacy interventions hold promise and are simple to implement.

Other studies of older people and reminiscence have also shown promising results. One in particular is:

Evaluating the Impact of  Reminiscence on the Quality of Life of Older People. A report by the Economic and Social Research Council about a piece of research on reminiscence they carried out with 142 older people in 2003.

Reminiscence activity results in psychological benefit for older people. Older people in our study who participated in activities were found at the end of the period of intervention to have better psychological morale and less psychological morbidity, and show more positive emotion and less negative emotion, than older people in our study who had not participated in our activities.

A  pioneer in the interdisciplinary study of aging is Robert N. Butler. One of his seminal articles,  Age, Death, and Life Review, is a must read. This article originally appeared in Living With Grief: Loss in Later Life, Kenneth J. Doka, Editor,  © Hospice Foundation of America, 2002.

The life review, as sometimes manifested by nostalgia and reminiscence, is a natural healing process. It represents one of the underlying human capacities on which all psychotherapy depends. Some of the positive results of a life review can be the righting of old wrongs, making up with estranged family members or friends, coming to accept one’s mortality, gaining a sense of serenity, pride in accomplishment, and a feeling of having done one’s best.

In Part Two, I’ll look at some of the practical steps that will help ensure the successful implementation of a hospice life stories program.

Photo by iStockphoto

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Categories: End of life · How to · Life stories · Palliative care · Personal historian · Uncategorized
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Wow! More Free Resources!

June 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment

As those of you who frequent my site know, I occasionally pull together free Internet resources. Previously I compiled a mega list of 100 Free Resources for Personal Historians. This was followed by 20 More Free Resources for Personal Historians and More Free Stuff! Well I’m back with more free resources to help you with your personal history work. Please note I don’t personally endorse any of these sites because I haven’t tested or used all of them. If you are familiar with some of these services  or products and would like to leave a comment about your experience with them, I’d welcome such a review.

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25+ Free Vector World Maps. “If you are in search of a high quality vector World map, then your search is now over. Most of the vector maps below are of the highest detail and accuracy, some have been designed specifically for designers and others to be used by everyone for whatever the project. They are all in either .ai (Illustrator) format, .eps format or .svg formats.”

Photovisi. “…a free and easy to use online tool to create photo collages. Select one of the many collage templates, add your photos and then customize by dragging items around. After the collage is finished, it’s available for download and print!”

Diagram Designer. “Simple vector graphics editor for creating flowchart, diagrams and slide shows.”

30 Boxes – Online Calendar. “…lets you connect with the people who matter most.”

Zoho. “… a suite of online applications (services) that you sign up for and access from our Website. The applications are free for individuals and some have a subscription fee for organizations.”

Wordle.“…a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes.”

Babylon. [Free Trial] “It offers text translation in 33 languages and Wikipedia results in 21 languages, all in a single click.”

The Levelator. “Do you believe in magic? You will after using The Levelator® to enhance your podcast…It’s software that runs on Windows, OS X (universal binary), or Linux (Ubuntu) that adjusts the audio levels within your podcast or other audio file for variations from one speaker to the next, for example.”

Apture. “The leading provider of context for readers and publishers. By adding Apture’s simple code to their website, publishers can plug the holes in their content and let readers open related background material, view related photo slideshows, or watch videos from these popular destinations, all in an innovative second layer that keeps users on the page. Best of all, it doesn’t require any editorial effort.”

toggl. “A helpful tool for freelancers charging by the hour who need to keep track of exactly how much time they spent on what task.”

Cacoo. “…is a user friendly online drawing tool that allows you to create a variety of diagrams such as site maps, wire frames, UML and network charts.”

PDFmyURL. “A simple, one-function site that converts any live Web site into a static PDF file–something handy for offline reading, long-term archiving, and sticking on PDF-friendly e-book readers like Amazon’s Kindle. It can also be a lifesaver, if you’re on a computer without PDF-making software that would otherwise enable you to “print” a PDF copy of your own.”

TribalPages. “Build your Free Family Tree website online. Invite friends and family to view or update your site. Each private and secure website is loaded with Photos, Charts, Reports, Maps, Relationships, Events and Stories. Just add names of your relatives or import a GEDCOM file and instantly create your website. Your site can create custom newsletters for each member with birthday and anniversary reminders, recent site activity and send them out every two weeks.”

Celtx. “The world’s first all-in-one media pre-production system. It replaces ‘paper & binder’ pre-production with a digital approach that’s more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share.”

Pixorial. “… created to liberate the world’s video – to empower people of all ages to share, create and connect with friends and family through video.
With Pixorial, you can easily send, upload, edit, organize and share your video memories.”

50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills. “You will find copywriting blogs, dictionaries, references, teaching classes, articles, tools as well as related articles from other blogs.”

75+ Online Travel Resources. “We’ve rounded up 75+ sites to help you on your way, including travel search, deal sites, travel social networks and user-generated reviews. Bon voyage.”

20+ Free Press Release Distribution Sites. “We’ve gathered 20+ sites that will help you with getting your press release out in the world for free.”

OpenZine. “A publishing platform with web browser based tools that provides an easy way for anyone to make their own magazine, for free…To preserving the design experience of print we’ve created amazingly powerful one click layouts. You can even change them as you go!”

OurStory. “… is here to help you build and enrich your relationships and connections by guiding you (and others in your circle) to recall, write about, and illustrate life’s most important memories. In one easy-to-use, organized place, and in a rich environment that celebrates all of the stories – big and small – with the words, photos and voices that help tell about your journey, at the same time honoring your choices regarding privacy. OurStory delivers—finally—a way to hold on to life’s incredible moments, and to keep them in a place where others can share in your journey.”

Photo by Luke  Stearns

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Categories: Life stories · Personal historian · Resources
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7 Things You Can Do to Ensure a Great Workshop.

June 2, 2010 · Leave a Comment

**LAST WEEK to vote on my poll: How long have you been a personal historian? Click here to vote.**

Workshops are an excellent way of getting yourself in front of potential clients. Running workshops is something I really enjoy. Over the years I’ve learned a few things about designing and facilitating them that I’d like to share with you.  Here are seven things you can do to create an optimum learning environment for your workshop.

  1. Set up a comfortable workshop space. Nothing does more to kill a good workshop experience than a poorly lit room that is  too hot or too cold, too big or too small. Avoid having chairs lined up with military precision. If possible, request ahead of time a U-shaped seating pattern. This provides for greater intimacy and participation. Also, ask for a room that will comfortably hold the number of participants attending. Finally, always arrive early to check out your room and make certain it’s set up to your specifications.
  2. Greet participants when they arrive. I always make a point of welcoming participants and giving them a folder of workshop resources. This creates a friendly, inclusive atmosphere and allows you to get a quick sense of who’s attending your workshop.
  3. Avoid telling participants what they already know. Remember that your workshop participants are a tremendous resource  from which to draw.  Adult learners bring a wealth of experience. Start with the assumption that your participants already have some experience and ideas about the topic.
  4. Check out expectations. This flows from the point above. One way to find out what people want to learn is to ask them! Somewhere near the beginning of my sessions I make a point of asking people for their workshop expectations.
  5. Build in participatory activities. Avoid lecturing. If you must, keep it short – like five minutes! People enjoy being involved. How many activities you can do will depend on the size of your group and the length of your workshop.  If the group is small, fewer than twenty, use pairs or triads to get people engaged with one another. For example, in determining expectations,  I divide the group into pairs. I ask each person in the pair to describe to the other what it is they most want to learn. After about five minutes I bring everyone back to the group and solicit their expectations. I then write these up on a flip chart. For a list of other engaging activities click here.
  6. Create a safe and comfortable learning experience. Your workshop participants will, for the most part, be  strangers to one another. They need to feel comfortable with each other before  speaking up in the group. That’s why I design ways to get people into smaller clusters which allows participants to get to know one another more easily.
  7. Lead by example. Your words, body language, and tone should read relaxed, attentive, non-judgmental, supportive, and open. I often start my sessions by saying, “In our workshop today no one gets to be wrong…including me!” I emphasize that all questions are legitimate and will be listened to respectfully.

Photo by kellerabteil

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Categories: Courses · How to · Marketing · Personal historian · Tips
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Are You Creating a Supportive Milieu for Your Personal History Interviews?

May 20, 2010 · Leave a Comment

**Don’t forget to vote on my poll: How long have you been a personal historian? Click here to vote.**

You can be a first class interviewer but if you don’t ensure a good interview environment, your chances of getting the best from your client are minimized. Here are four things you can do to create a supportive milieu.

  1. Choose a room with lots of “padding”. This is particularly important if you’re producing audio or video personal histories. Audio sounds terrible when it’s recorded in a room that’s all hard surfaces. Stay away from kitchens!  Living rooms usually work well because they are filled with drapes, rugs, and upholstered furniture. Try this sound recordist’s trick. Clap your hands and if you don’t hear any reverberation, the space is good for your recording.
  2. Find a “best” time for your client. You want to interview your clients at a time that works for them. Some are morning people and are most animated and alert in the morning. Others find evening  a time when they’re open to reflection. For others a busy weekly schedule may mean weekends work the best. Be flexible and ensure that you arrange a time that fits your clients’ needs rather than your own.
  3. Avoid an audience. You don’t want people sitting in on your interview. Ban wives, husbands, kids, friends, long lost relatives, and the neighbor next door. Be firm! Having someone present during your interview is very distracting for both you and your client.  There are exceptions to this rule that I’ll cover in a future post.
  4. Turn off everything that hums, whirs, ticks, or rings. Picture this. You’re leading up to very dramatic, emotional point in your interview when suddenly the telephone rings. Kiss that moment goodbye. No matter how hard you try to recapture it, you’ll never get that special moment back. Unplug the telephones. Turn off the refrigerator. Stop the air conditioner or furnace. Silence loud ticking clocks. Just remember to turn everything back on before you leave!

Photo by John  Davey

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Categories: How to · Interviewing · Life stories · Personal historian · Tips
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Monday’s Link Roundup.

May 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment

**Don’t forget to vote on my poll: How long have you been a personal historian? Click here to vote.**

Monday’s Link Roundup this week has items to appeal to both your heart and your head. For your heart be sure to check-out Pittsburgher has been searching for the woman who helped raise him. And for your head you’ll want to read Two Rules for a Successful Presentation.

  • Terkel Coming Online. “If someone was an important figure in American culture in the 20th century, chances are he or she was interviewed by Studs Terkel…Under a deal signed Monday between the Chicago History Museum and the Library of Congress, tapes of those interviews will be digitally preserved and given new life online.”
  • Historical Canadian Census, 1851 -1916 Fully Indexed and Searchable. “The Canadian Census Collection represents the first time ever that the 1851/2, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1906, 1911 and 1916 censuses will be fully searchable online and fully indexed in one place. Now people across Canada and around the world can research their Canadian roots faster and easier than ever before.”
  • Two Rules for a Successful Presentation. “Most presentations go bad because the presenter didn’t prepare well enough in two ways. In fact, so important are these two classic errors that I’m going to elevate them to The Two Rules for Preparing a Successful Presentation.”
  • How to Get a Decorative Family Tree Poster. “So you’ve gathered a few generations’ worth of names and dates, and now you want to display your family tree on your wall. Nowadays you have more options than ever—from free to pricey and do-it-yourself to full-service—for creating a decorative family tree poster. Here are some that we’ve come across:”
  • Who Owns Your Family History Story? “I am not talking about copyrights but rather, how much of your family story belongs to you? How much should you tell? What stories should remain unwritten?”
  • Encounters with the past. “The past is not as long ago as we think, says Stuart Lutz. Such major events as Amelia Earhart’s flying career or the disastrous General Slocum fire of 1904 seem impossibly remote to us moderns…Lutz has met those people. He’s the author of “The Last Leaf: Voices of History’s Last-Known Survivors,” an oral history of 39 people who were the last survivor or eyewitness of historical events.”
  • For 13 years, Pittsburgher has been searching for the woman who helped raise him. “Joe was only 5 when Helen left her employment with the family, but she’s alive in his memory. Like Miss Skeeter, the young white woman in The New York Times best-seller “The Help” who yearned to reconnect with the black maid who had raised her, Joe longed to find Helen. “I have this enormous emotional feeling about how important she was to me. She was the font of everything wonderful in my life,” he said. So, 13 years ago, from his home in Olympia, Wash., Joe began searching for her.”

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