Getting Hooked on Memoirs
Preserve and Share Your Life Experiences Before They Are Lost
by
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Excerps from "Two Female Applicants Caught My Eye:" ..... One of the girls was interested in music, and the Chairman of the Music Department was thrilled to meet his talented applicant. He could hardly contain his enthusiasm, and he began to project programs and projects that were not listed in the College Catalogue. Following that successful meeting, I then urged this music major to complete enrollment procedures, and she did. I had no doubts that she would get a fine education at WMC, and that following college, she would also achieve great success in her music career. In the case of the second female applicant, the woman occupying the Art Department Chair did not react with enthusiasm when I introduced her to her talented applicant. The Chair was polite but blunt with her remarks, asking: “What am I supposed to do with her?” She made it clear that this student was too advanced to fit into the existing program, and there were no prospects that special classes would be considered in future years to accommodate such a talented student. The applicant, in the Chair’s opinion, should attend a college elsewhere. Based on the Art Department Chair’s comments, I naturally urged the girl not to enroll at Western Maryland College, but she did not follow my advice.
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About the Book
“Your story of Robert Frost’s visit to the Wesleyan campus in 1953 is heartwarming and memorable, and it must become part of the Wesleyan Archives.”
—Suzy Taraba, Wesleyan University Archivist
“Love your songs, but it was the memoir of your 1992 Rotary visit to New Zealand that I enjoyed the most.”
—Glenn Estess Sr., Past Rotary International President
Getting Hooked on Memoirs presents both a guide and a collection of memoirs designed to provide examples of this personal type of writing. In this helpful handbook, Dr. H. Kenneth Shook offers practical advice to aid in writing effective personal memoirs. Dr. Shook draws on his experiences in conducting sessions on writing and sharing memoirs to shares his knowledge and provide answers to these vital questions:
• What is a memoir? • Is there a desired length for a memoir? • Could the author of the memoir be sharing the experiences of others rather than his own experiences? • How does a memoir differ from a research paper or a complete life history? • Can memoirs include events of recent weeks or months, rather than focusing solely on events of the distant past?
This practical guide will inspire everyone who reads it to delve into their own life experiences to share their story or experience in their very own memoir.
About the Author
Dr. H Kenneth Shook has been sharing his love for memoirs with others for many years, conducting workshops and lecturing to groups in the Maryland area. A classroom teacher of mathematics and sociology, he was a college dean of admissions for eighteen years. He currently lives in Maryland.