Your Memoir, the Way You Want It

Endlessly Fascinating

Last month I traveled to Florida, where I met with a client working on his Commissioned Memoir. He also invited me to speak at a luncheon hosted by the local “Gold” chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). What a lovely event it was! This is the division of the organization for longstanding members who joined YPO earlier in their careers, and I was grateful for the chance to talk with members about Modern Memoirs’ history, mission, and process. We also heard from a panel of memoirists who have taken various paths to privately publish their books. Speakers shared moving comments on what motivated them to tell their stories, and the engaged audience asked good questions.

Throughout the event, I found myself repeatedly saying, “Our work is endlessly fascinating!” This is true, in part, because of the wide range of projects our clients bring to us. For example, this newsletter features both an interview by Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg with a repeat client who recently published her second volume of poetry with us, as well as a report from Publishing Associate Emma Solis on an author event with a memoirist whose book includes photographs of her autobiographical quilt squares. Working with such creative people is nothing short of inspirational, and we are honored to help them share their gifts with others.

A recurrent theme during the Q&A portion of the YPO luncheon in Florida was attendees’ desire to share not just financial or material wealth with their loved ones, but also core values, a sense of pride in one’s heritage, and in some cases, a legacy of creativity. I am currently in conversation with two people wishing to publish poetry books, and interestingly, both volumes are by late members of these potential clients’ families. These unpublished poets left behind verses they’d written over the years, and now their children and grandchildren wish to collect them into books as tributes to their loved ones and as heirlooms for future generations.

What sort of book might you be thinking of? Is there a project you’d like to explore in tribute to a loved one, or born of your own creativity? We at Modern Memoirs are here to help you realize your publishing goals and hope to hear from you soon.

Warmly,

Megan St. Marie

President

Modern Memoirs Events:

Sunday Block Parties

by Publishing Associate Emma Solis

Publishing Associate Emma Solis tabling at a 2023 Sunday Block Party in Northampton, Massachusetts

Great news for residents of Western Massachusetts: Modern Memoirs has been invited to return to this year’s Sunday Block Parties hosted by Spill the Tea Sis in downtown Northampton. Sunday Block Parties are dynamic, family-friendly outdoor markets which feature a wide variety of local artists, musicians, farmers, and craftspeople. Modern Memoirs will be offering books by our authors as well as gifts for readers and writers from our online shop, Memory Lane Books & Gifts.

The first Block Party, a Mother’s Day Market, is coming up soon on May 12th from 11am—5pm on Main Street in Northampton. Block Parties will continue through the summer and into the fall every second Sunday: June 9th, July 14th, August 11th, September 8th, and October 13th, at the same place and times. We hope to see you there!

Featured Blog Posts by Our Staff

A Painting as Portal to People and Places of the Past

By Megan St. Marie

Read the Full Post

Reflections from Modern Memoirs Client Marian Leibold

Interview by Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg

Read the Full Post

Old Lesbian Memory Quilt: Stories Told by Edie Daly on Her 80th Birthday by Modern Memoirs client Edie Daly is available for sale in our online shop, Memory Lane Books & Gifts

A Meeting of Generations

By Emma Solis

Earlier this month, I attended a packed, in-person screening of the documentary “Old Lesbians” (2024, dir. Meghan McDonough) featuring Edie Daly (pictured at left), author of Old Lesbian Memory Quilt: Stories Told by Edie Daly on Her 80th Birthday, which Modern Memoirs published in 2019. The event attracted a lively, intergenerational crowd including college students, community members, and elders like Daly who have been interviewed by the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project (OLOHP).

The audience was clearly invested in the preservation of personal history, and as the Q&A turned into a rousing group discussion, I felt an energy in the room that seemed to derive from our collective and genuine interest in each other’s stories. Afterward, participants came up to purchase copies of Old Lesbian Memory Quilt, and Daly signed a copy for the Modern Memoirs library, writing: “How you live your life—and how you tell your story—is IMPORTANT!” We couldn’t agree more, and we congratulate Edie Daly on the many ways in which she is telling and sharing her story.