This award winning memoir was a collaboration between Paul Wayne and Mark Graham Communications
In February on the blog, we introduced you to a Mark Graham Communications (MGC) client and ghostwriter who worked together to unravel a mystery in the client’s past. Today, I’d like to share another story about this same client and writer.
An important aspect of most memoirs is photographed. When telling your life story, you want to include a visual representation of cherished moments from the past. As with most MGC clients, this is true for the nonagenarian who is working with our ghostwriter to tell her family’s history. The client’s adult children are also collaborating on the project.
Not long ago, we met on Zoom – myself, the ghostwriter, the client, and her children – to go over family photographs, deciding which ones to include in the client’s forthcoming book.
The ghostwriter had the client’s photos, which she has been using for reference as she works on the book. To decide which photos to use, the ghostwriter identified a collection of possibilities, showing each one to the family via the Zoom call. The family gave each photo a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
Then something magical happened.
The ghostwriter held up a photo from the late 1920s. It shows eight children and youth, ranging in age from about three into their teens. Our nonagenarian client is the youngest child in the photograph. On the back are the words, “Cousins at Uncle Fred’s.”
Our soft-spoken client, who hadn’t said much during the Zoom, pointed at the screen. “That’s me,” she said. “And Emmylou next to me. And there’s my brother. My sister is the tall girl in the back. My cousin Paul is on the right.”
The client, who often struggles with her memory, went on to identify everyone in this photograph, taken over ninety years ago. All of us held our breath, letting her speak until she was through.
“Mama,” one of her daughters said. “That was amazing.”
I share this story because it illustrates what can happen when we not only remember, but also get our memories into a physical form – a book. This woman and her family are creating an amazing gift, not only for themselves but for future generations of their family. The three-year-old girl in that photo is the only person still living. No one else would be able to identify this group or recall that sunny day on a beloved uncle’s front lawn.
What about you? What about your family? Are there treasured memories, treasured photographs, stories no one else can tell?
Of course, there are. We all have them. Imagine your memories and photos collected in a book – a unique story that only you and your loved ones can tell. You don’t need writing skills to create this book. An experienced ghostwriter can help you put it all together.
Interested? Please get in touch. We’d love to assist you in telling your story before the memories are lost forever.
