This is so interesting -- and how great that you kept those journals, even if you don't want to read them (as stated at the outset...) I was struck by how your mother's own voice came through to me (through you!) in her bio. She must've also been a good storyteller!
Wow. From little seeds… I don’t know, there’s some metaphor here about growing into who we are, and how the earliest versions of ourselves manifest in later life. Amazing to be able to look back and see the seedlings.
What a treasure to find your childhood account. I've long been fascinated by how parents' choices affect us. Yes, the foundations of good storytelling are alive and well in your biographies. Well done!
What a treat to have as an adult. You’ve shared them with such thought and analysis, that it feels like an art curator taking me deep into a piece. You now have me wishing I had my own pieces to look back on.
You definitely were a biographer, even back then. How wonderful to still have these examples of who your were and how much it says about who you are now. I hear your voice in these snippets.
You knew and valued so much about your parents lives. As a kid growing up we knew almost nothing because they didn’t talk about it. Having no family lore is a different invitation to a writer. These are so beautiful. You were like a little henry James seeing everything. Or rather like a kid in one of his books who sees everything but can’t know what it means.
So fortunate @Victoria Olsen to still have what you wrote about your parents when you were a child. I don't think I ever wrote about my parents as a child (as far as I can remember) but I know I wrote other stuff. Everything I wrote as a child was tossed out at some point by my parents while I was at University ... Without consultation! One thing I would like to have is the diary I wrote when we travelled from England to New Zealand by ship. I was 13. However, it is long since lost.
This is so interesting -- and how great that you kept those journals, even if you don't want to read them (as stated at the outset...) I was struck by how your mother's own voice came through to me (through you!) in her bio. She must've also been a good storyteller!
Thanks, Clyde! A bit of dialogue makes all the difference, doesn’t it?
Wow. From little seeds… I don’t know, there’s some metaphor here about growing into who we are, and how the earliest versions of ourselves manifest in later life. Amazing to be able to look back and see the seedlings.
What a treasure to find your childhood account. I've long been fascinated by how parents' choices affect us. Yes, the foundations of good storytelling are alive and well in your biographies. Well done!
Thank you! It’s amazing to me that I have two such symmetrical pieces — same time frame, both parents. A gift.
What a treat to have as an adult. You’ve shared them with such thought and analysis, that it feels like an art curator taking me deep into a piece. You now have me wishing I had my own pieces to look back on.
Thanks, Barbara! That’s a lovely compliment.
You definitely were a biographer, even back then. How wonderful to still have these examples of who your were and how much it says about who you are now. I hear your voice in these snippets.
Thank you, Marnie. I’m so interested in that question of voice— it’s somehow both changing and unchanging.
You knew and valued so much about your parents lives. As a kid growing up we knew almost nothing because they didn’t talk about it. Having no family lore is a different invitation to a writer. These are so beautiful. You were like a little henry James seeing everything. Or rather like a kid in one of his books who sees everything but can’t know what it means.
This is poignantly put, Lisa. I like the Maisie comparison too much. Thank you. 🙏
They are very vivid biographies and it is special that they were preserved.
Thank you — yes, I am slowly “processing” my own archive.
So fortunate @Victoria Olsen to still have what you wrote about your parents when you were a child. I don't think I ever wrote about my parents as a child (as far as I can remember) but I know I wrote other stuff. Everything I wrote as a child was tossed out at some point by my parents while I was at University ... Without consultation! One thing I would like to have is the diary I wrote when we travelled from England to New Zealand by ship. I was 13. However, it is long since lost.
Yes, there’s always at least as much lost as saved but we can treasure whatever survives. I’m sorry about that diary!