Sully Sullenberger’s New Book “Making a Difference” Relates to Dave Sanderson’s Mission after Surviving the Miracle on the Hudson

Posted on May 19, 2012 by admin

Sully Sullenberger has a new book out, “Making a Difference: Stories of Vision and Courage From America’s Leaders.” To gather material for the book, Sully spoke to leaders from diverse walks of life about the qualities, characteristics, and intentions of effective leaders and agents of change. His own intention, Sully says, is to remind us that we all can be leaders through our actions, no matter who we are or what we do in life.

I totally agree. I also believe that when one person leads through his or her actions in a profound way, it opens the door for, and encourages, others in their direct orbit to bring forward their own leadership abilities and inclinations. That’s how it has worked for Dave Sanderson. Dave is one of the surviving passengers of the Miracle on the Hudson featured in the book that I co-authored, “Brace for Impact: Miracle on the Hudson Survivors Share Their Stories of Near Death and Hope for New Life.” (http://braceforimpact.hcibooks.com) With every breath he takes, Dave knows that Sully’s brilliant leadership and stunning precision in landing US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson gave him a chance to live. Sully’s feat also paved the way for dozens of passengers like Dave to demonstrate their own leadership, resourcefulness, and teamwork in working together to get out of that plane and onto rescue boats alive – with not a single casualty, thanks to the efforts of those ferry boat operators, first responders, Red Cross personnel and many more.

Dave Sanderson risked his own health and safety by remaining onboard near the vulnerable rear of the plane until others had safely climbed onto the plane’s life rafts and water-covered wings. A night in the hospital with severe hypothermia from standing in waist-deep frigid water was a small price to pay. From his experience, a new life mission was born for Dave: to become a public speaker to share what happened to him through the Miracle on the Hudson, what he learned from it, and what we all can gain from recognizing that we indeed can become leaders in our own lives while serving the public good.

Dave has presented hundreds of talks to diverse audiences all over the country, including many fund-raising appearances for the Red Cross. He’s done it all while maintaining his primary job as well. He’s touched women and men of all ages who hear him, and many of them have in turn touched Dave with their own stories about courageous and dedicated acts to lead and serve others. It’s the ripple effect of the Miracle on the Hudson that we discuss in “Brace for Impact.” Sully Sullenberger is the catalyst, and his latest book and talks remind us that those ripples can reach every one of us.

- Kevin Quirk, Co-author of “Brace for Impact: Miracle on the Hudson Survivors Share Their Stories of Near Death and Hope for New Life” and author of “Your Life Is a Book – And It’s Time to Write It!”

 

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A Physician’s Inspiring Addiction Recovery Journey Fuels New Guidebook

Posted on May 8, 2012 by admin

How do we heal from diseases, traumas, accidents, and painful childhood experiences? Many memoirs and autobiographies provide us clues and inspiration. Professional guidebooks often engage us with personal accounts that help us see ourselves and gaze into a more healthy and satisfying future we desire.

From the Edge of the Cliff: Understanding the Two Phases of Recovery And Becoming the Person You’re Meant To Be by Dawn V. Obrecht, M.D., beautifully combines both the professional guidance and intimate feel of the person who has been there…and come out the other side. I had the privilege of assisting Doc Dawn with this new book and I’m excited to witness its launching. This is a comprehensice guide for anyone at any stage of the addiction recovery spectrum: those suffering through active addiction to alcohol and/or other drugs and desperate to claim recovery; those struggling through the fragile initial months or years of Phase I Recovery; and those who have sustained recovery but who yearn for something more in a life beyond alcohol and drugs: a Phase II Recovery. It’s also a vital resource for loved ones of addicts, and it’s an especially valuable aid for healthcare professionals who too often fail to understand the lives and needs of millions of women and men that come to them as a last resort.

Doc Dawn is an addiction specialist. She thoroughly knows the terrain. Some 30 years ago she was so desperate to escape her life of booze and drugs that she devised a plan to drive off a cliff in the Colorado mountains – with her two young children with her. Instead, she turned to recovery. The many stages she has succssfully navigated offer tools and encouragement for those seeking to find their way.

The book is built around 60 practical, to-the-point lessons for alcoholics and addicts. If your own life is clouded by addiction, or you know someone who has battled this pervasive disease, From the Edge of the Cliff may serve as one of the most important and valuable allies they will find. You can learn more about Doc and the book at her website: www.docdawn.com

 - Kevin Quirk, co-author of the inspirational book Brace for Impact: Miracle on the Hudson Survivors Share Their Stories of Near Death and Hope for New Life.      

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Writing about Our Pivotal Choices from Our Life Story Can Inspire Others, Like the $3.4 mIllion Lottery Winner Who Kept His Janitor Job and Gave Back to His Community

Posted on September 3, 2011 by admin

As a life story ghostwriter and teacher of Writing Your Life Story classes, I often advise my clients and students to tell me the stories behind their most important life choices. Those choices, I remind them, can inspire others to make their own pivotal and often difficult choices – choices that sometimes call for them to veer off the expected, ordinary path to step onto the sacred ground of who they really are. In glancing through news stories on the Internet the other day, I came across the account of one life choice that took my breath away.

Tyrone Curry was a school custodian and track coach in the Seattle area five years ago when he won $3.4 million in the lottery. Like most folks who play the lottery regularly, he had been joking with friends and family for years about the big plans he had “when” he won it big. Perhaps you carry your own fantasies about what you would do if you won millions in the lottery: world travel, a new home, early retirement, etc. But as soon as he actually held that check with so many zeroes on it that his wife couldn’t understand the amount, he began making different plans, mapping out a pivotal life choice. Here’s a link that explains the whole story behind “The Real Jackpot”:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015553417_lotteryguy09.html

I’ll share the highlights about Mr. Curry’s life choice after winning $3.4 million in the lottery: First, he decided he would keep his job and vowed to keep living off the income from it. He also held onto his other positions as a seating host at Safeco Field, Seattle’s major league baseball stadium, and his role as an usher at a performing arts center. He still lives in the same modest home, though he did put in a new driveway. He gave some money to members of his extended family who really needed it. And he recently donated $40,000 to the high school where he works to help enable the construction of a new track because, with school budgets what they are these days, the compelling need for an upgraded modern surface was not being met. So Tyrone Curry decided to give something back.

As you might guess, Tyrone Curry was living by values taught to him early on. In his case, it was his mother who raised Tyrone and his eight siblings as a single mom in a home where a dinner on some nights might be biscuits and gravy.

“She taught us to work for what we got and to work with what we got,” he explained.

Do you know of any young people who could benefit from that message these days? I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Curry share more about his experience on NPR’s The Story:

http://thestory.org/archive

I was struck by his humility, his determination after becoming a millionaire to remain the same Joe Citizen, to hang out with the same friends, and to keep his feet firmly on the ground except when, even as a 60-year-old, he couldn’t resist trying a few triple jumps when they recently got that new track installed. 

He’s maintained one more habit from his pre-lotto winning days: he still plays the lottery. Again, he’s making big plans for when he wins another jackpot. His school also badly needs a tennis court, you see, so…

- Kevin Quirk, life story and memoir ghostwriter and author of “Your Life Is a Book And it’s Time to Write It: An A-to-Z Guide to Help Anyone Write Their Life Story”

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In Writing Your Life Story, Ask This Question: If You Could Go Back and Relive One Moment from Childhood, What Would It Be?

Posted on August 30, 2011 by admin

My 9 year old son Aibek and I had just come away from the dazzling laser, light, and water show “Fantasma” as part of the Hollywood Studios theme park at Disneyworld. It was well after dark, we had not even had dinner, and, due to air travel complications the night before, we had been up since 5 a.m. But I knew he was not ready to call it a night. Neither was I.

 ”Okay, we really should be getting back to the hotel and going to bed now,” I began, seeing if he would believe me but doubting he would. “But if we could go back to any of the rides we have been on today before it closes, what would it would be?” 

“Star Tours!” he exclaimed.

“Well then, let’s do it!” I said. “Who cares about the time?”

“Really?!” he asked. “Awesome.”

So, with his new, custom-made light saber in hand, we rushed toward the Star Tours exhibit, smiled when we noticed it had only a 15-minute wait, and took our place in line. As CP3O narrated us through our second harrowing space journey, Aibek took special delight in seeing that the ride was a little different from our first go-round five hours earlier. At 10:30 p.m., as he munched on his dinner of a personal pizza and carrot sticks, he flashed his thoughtful look.

“Dad,” he said, “I want to come back and do this again next year. And then the year after that. Then I want to get a job at Disneyworld so I can go on Star Tours all the time.”

 Well, of course he did. He had just experienced one of those moments from childhood that he yearned to relive, to recapture, to hold onto and squeeze as tight as he had ever held his Honey Bear. And whether we ever actually come back to Disneyworld or not (I was amazed how many people we met who have come several times!), I hoped that he would never lose that feeling, that desire. We all need that sense of wanting, yearning to go back and relive something special and meaningful. And from my experience as ghostwriter of life story books and teacher of Writing Your Life Story classes, I believe we’ve all had it.

If you are writing your life story, or expect to begin telling the stories of your life sometime soon, this is something I invite you to consider. Ask yourself this question:

If you could go back and relive one moment from your childhood, what would it be?

Did you have one or more of those peak, off-the-charts experiences that made you say “I’ve got to do this again?” Maybe you did get to go back and repeat the same or similar experience. But even if you didn’t, you have the opportunity now, through writing your life story, to feel that sense of excitement, joy, and wonder again. You can go back in your mind’s eye and recreate the event that stirred something magical in you, that made you want to “go on the ride” again. And again.

 Do you know what that moment is right now? Do you have more than one special experience in mind? Quick, write them down. Tell the story. Flesh out the details. Feel the sensations. Go to warp speed and take it as fast and as far as it will go. The day, or the night, is still young.

- Kevin Quirk, Personal Historian, memoir ghostwriter and author of “Your Life Is a Book And It’s Time to Write It! An A-to-Z Guide to Help Anyone Write Their Life Story” (www.yourlifeisabook.com).

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The Maid Aibileen’s Words from the Movie “The Help” Remind Us Why Telling Our Life Story Can Empower and Uplift Us

Posted on August 18, 2011 by admin

“No one ever asked me what it felt like to be me.”

Those are the words of Aibileen, one of the maids who agree to tell their compelling personal stories for the eye-opening, courageous book that emerges within the plot of the new movie “The Help.” I have not read the novel yet, but I saw the movie last night. It’s a compelling slice of life capturing the emerging Civil Rights spirit of the early 1960s. I thoroughly enjoyed and was moved by the movie in that regard. As a personal historian and memoir ghostwriter at Life Is a Book who interviews women and men from all walks of life to write their life story, I also came away from seeing “The Help” with a reminder of how empowering and uplifting it is for anyone to have the opportunity to share their stories with someone who really wants to know.

Often it feels as if the greatest gift I offer my life-story clients is simply to show up and, like Skeeter in “The Help,” demonstrate a curiosity and a healthy respect for what the other person has lived through, how it has shaped them, and what they really have to tell others about it all. Sometimes that life experience is dramatic, both personally and within the context of a major historical event such as a war. Sometimes it has the rawness, pain, or vulnerability conveyed by those maids. But the impact of having a witness to a part of their life story is evident even when my clients are telling me something not so headline-grabbing dramatic: a decision to leave home at 18; where they went on their first date with their spouse; what they learned the first time they got in trouble, etc. Often they inform me after our interview that a story they just recounted in great detail to me was something they hadn’t thought about for years because “no one ever asked me about it.” And now that I asked, they discovered they had a great deal to tell! Through the telling, they uncovered thoughts, feelings, and insights that made them feel somehow better about themselves. More complete. More understanding. More alive.

So if you have already seen ”The Help” or plan to do so soon, I invite you to consider this as one of many valuable take-aways. Are you yearning to tell your story? Is it time to call upon a personal historian or memoir ghostwriter to ask you those questions about what it’s like to be you? Or is there someone in your family, or someone else you care about, who may be uplifted and empowered by you sitting down with them to ask them to share the stories of their lives? The rewards of being in the seat of Aibileen or Skeeter in the life-story interview process can be equally as rich and rewarding.

- Kevin Quirk, personal historian, memoir ghostwriter and author of “Life Is a Book – And it’s Time to Write It! An A-to-Z Guide to Help Anyone Write Their Life Story” (www.yourlifeisabook.com)

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When You Write About a Dramatic Life Story, You Can Promote Healing Both for Yourself and for Your Audience

Posted on August 13, 2011 by admin

In my work in helping people tell the most important stories of their lives, I recently began advising a woman writing a memoir about a painful and dramatic experience from her adolescence. I was instantly impressed by her vivid descriptions, her use of details, and her ability to convey her feelings in a real and raw manner. I have no doubt that her book will ultimately reach many people who can benefit from her honest and open recounting of what happened to her and what she did about it. That’s a major part of her mission. I am also confident that the act of writing this part of her life story will have a profound impact on my client. She is tapping the inherent healing power of telling and writing about the most dramatic stories of our lives.

This healing power is potentially available to anyone who chooses to write about any trauma, painful event, or sad memories from the past. I’m always encouraged and gratified when I witness or hear evidence that confirms this truth. As a recent example, NPR’s The Story featured a segment about Iraq war vteran Mike Kim working with novelist Matt Sharpe to help heal combat veterans through writing: http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_070711_full_show.mp3/view   

Their connection emerged from Mike’s participation with the Veteran-Civilian Dialogue, which presents facilitated meetings between those who served and those who have been impacted by war at home: http://www.intersectionsinternational.org/our-work/veterans-war

I have not attended any of those meetings but in my Writing Your Life Story classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Virginia I often get to listen to refreshingly diverse reflections on the experience of war.  I remember one class in which four students were writing about their World War II memoiries, and two of those students were bringing to life their stories about being on “the other side” (Germany and Italy). As I looked around the room cloaked in respect and compassion, I was convinced that everyone there was enriched by hearing both our differences and our commonality in being shaped by war.  That’s a part of the healing power of telling our dramatic stories: our ability to extend the net of compassion and understanding that can bring us together.

Do you have a story from your life that holds a healing power just waiting to be tapped?

- Kevin Quirk, Personal Historian, Memoir Ghostwriter, and author of “Your Life Is a Book – And It’s Time to Write It! An A-to-Z Guide to Help Anyone Write Their Life Story” (www.yourlifeisabook.com)

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Life Story Ghostwriter Explains How Writing Your Life Story Can Be Enriching, Rewarding and Sometimes Therapeutic

Posted on July 5, 2011 by admin

Students in my “Writing Your Life Story” and “Autobiographical Writing” classes, as well as my personal history clients, often ask me, “Is writing your life story therapy?”  I usually respond, “Well, it may not be therapy but it can certainly be therapeutic.”

The healing benefits of telling our story can emerge at any time, often when we’re not even expecting it. I’ve witnessed many students plunge into the process of writing about their past with enthusiasm and dedication, expecting nothing more than preserving their memories for their children or grandchildren. Then, somewhere along the way, they reflect upon a life experience, often from childhood, that prompts them to slow down. They take further inventory. Hold the experience up to the light of day. See it through a new lens. They remember parts of the story they had long forgotten, and they find themselves looking upon the role they played, and the roles played by others close to them, in a  different context. They make discoveries, experience an “aha.” Maybe they smile, or shed a tear. They tell me and their fellow life-writing students of a feeling that something has been cleansed. They had a new realization or felt a sense of completion about something large or small from their past. Often the experience stirs them to dig in for a further exploration of memories from around the same time, or that may be somehow connected to the story that touched them. Whether they would call it that or not, these life-story writers are having a therapuetic experience.

Some of my Writing Your Life Story and Autobiographical Writing students intentionally seek the therapuetic benefits of writing our life story. They carry a degree of sadness, anger or discontent about a part of their past, and even if they have sought healing in actual therapuetic enviornments previously, they believe that writing about the experience might take them another step down the road of healing. Often it works just that way. They write about something painful and report that it feels a little lighter. Maybe they forgive a loved one, or themselves. Maybe they gain a fresh perspective. At times I’ve seen students wrestling with strained relationships with a parent in their writing tap into a happy or even joyful memory of a shared time with that mother or father.  And invariably, when one student is writing about painful memories in a way to help their healing, their fellow life-story writers listen respectfully, supportively, and even admiringly.

When clients contact me to write their life story for them as ghostwriter, or ask me to coach them in writing their memoir or autobiography themselves, facing a difficult experience from their past is often part of the plan.  When John Thomas began writing about his past, he knew he would be focusing on his grief from losing two wives to breast cancer nine years apart.  In his therapuetic life-story writing experience, he also found himself paying tribute to these two loves of his life in new and heart-stirring ways. His book “My Saints Alive: Reflections on a Journey of Love, Loss and Life” (www.mysaintsalive.com) is a profound testament to the many therapeutic benefits of writing our life story.  Recently I was contacted by a man who had lost his beloved almost two years earlier. While he knew it wasn’t going to be easy, he wanted to go back and chronicle their entire relationship. It was just something he had to do, he told me.

 Perhaps that is part of what is calling you to write your life story or to reach out to a ghostwriter or personal historian to write your memoir or autobiography for you. Maybe you are seeking discovery or even healing about your past. You might find it, even if it doesn’t come in the form you would expect. And if the idea of having a therapeutic experience is not even on your radar in wanting to tell your life story, don’t be surprised  if it pops up along the trail anyway. Most likely, you’ll appreciate the added touch. And if the memory coming forward feels too painful to re-visit at this time, simply back away and focus on the many other dimensions of your life story. You will know what’s right for you.

For those of you who have already had therapuetic moments in writing about your life story, feel free to share those experiences with me in an email. I’m always appreciative of hearing stories about how writing our life story helps us in new and meaningful ways.

- Kevin Quirk, Life Story Ghostwriter and author of “Life Is a Book – And It’s Time to Write It! An A-to-Z Guide to Help Anyone Write Their Life Story” (www.yourlifeisabook.com)

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For a Special Father’s Day Card, Write About Your Most Poignant Memories Together

Posted on June 16, 2011 by admin

Do you ever struggle with picking out the right Father’s Day card for your Dad? Do they all sound too syrupy? Too impersonal? Too over-the-top gushy?

As a personal historian and ghostwriter who helps people write their life stories and a teacher of Autobiographical Writing classes, I’ve got an idea for something a little bit different. Make your own personal Father’s Day greeting by writing simple reflections of some of your most memorable moments you and your dad have shared together.

Don’t worry about sounding poetic. Just be yourself. Pick five stories, or three, or even just one. It doesn’t matter how long ago it was. Doesn’t matter how dramatic the story was. Ordinary will work just fine.  What counts is your willingness to be yourself and recount a story that you know he will appreciate because he remembers it too.

But you’re not a writer, you say? Just set a timer for 10 minutes. Sit down with a pen and a piece of paper (doesn’t matter how pretty it looks) and write these words: “I remember one time with Dad when…” Then, for the next 10 minutes, fill in the blanks with whatever words come next. Don’t try to think it out ahead of time. Just let your memory bank spill out. The story is there. You’ve told it before, or if you’ve thought about it many times.

Then, if you feel as if you’re just getting warmed up, set the timer for 10 more minutes ( or five) and write, “I also remember…” And tell another story that shows something about your dad. You don’t have to wrap it up with a fancy “bow” of an ending.  All endings are arbitrary, and sometimes what’s left unsaid can be more impactful than what you try to force. 

I remember… That’s all it takes to get you going, to capture snippets of time when your dad was just…being your dad. When he reads it, he will appreciate the gift of being known.

Now, if you happen to enjoy drawing or coloring, you may also want to create your own cover for this different kind of Father’s Day card. But if that’s going too far on your creativity meter, go to your computer and look for pictures or images that somehow or other speak to who your dad is and how he looks at life. Again, you’ll know it when you see it. Or just download one of your own photos of Dad. 

Put this all together and present it to your dad on Father’s Day. Take a moment to appreciate how you, in your own way, without plopping down five bucks on a Hallmark ready-made production, have found just the right kind of card for Father’s Day.

- Kevin Quirk, Personal Historian and Ghostwriter with Life Is a Book, Member of the Association of Personal Historians, and author of “Your Life Is a Book – And it’s Time to Write It! An A-to-Z Guide to Help Anyone Write Their Life Story”

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When You Write Your Life Story, Make Room for Reflections About Unforgettable Summer Vacations

Posted on June 9, 2011 by admin

School is letting out. The weather is heating up. And millions of us are firming up plans for our family summer vacations.  Somewhere amid those get-away plans and the get-aways themselves we’re also likely to find ourselves having snapshot memories of vacations past. That’s an excellent time to not only pull out the snapshot photos and other momentos but to start writing down the stories we recall.

When I teach my classes on Writing Your Life Story and Autobiographical Writing, or when I interview women and men in my role as life story ghostwriter or personal historian,  I make sure to spend time covering favorite vacation stories. Even if you don’t remember a whole lot about some periods of your childhood, there’s a very good chance you can call up images of what you and your family did, and where you would go, on summer vacation. As we head toward summer, this is a natural time to invite yourself to revisit those times and to record all the details that help them come alive to you again.

You may benefit from asking the basic questions, the 5 W’s and H: who, what, when, where, why and how? Who went on that vacation with you? What did you do that was especially fun? When did you start looking forward to the vacation? Where did you go? Why was this vacation more memorable than others? How do you feel now as you rekindle the memories?

To help you zero in on specific details, you can consider these questions: What is the one moment that tells the whole story of what that vacation was all about? What did you find yourself saying about it when you were heading home?   If you tried to repeat the same vacation experience today, what food or activity would you most need to include?

You may find memories of several vacations splashing to the surface of your mind. That’s great. Write about as many as you’d like. It doesn’t matter if some come from early childhood, others from later childhood or adolescence, and others from those adults years when you were calling the shots on vacation destinations and adventures (and paying the bills for it!). As a bonus, these vacation reflections often prime the pump for many more stories that you will want to integrate into your accounts of writing your life story. If you need help choosing which vacation to focus on, try these guiding questions:

Which one vacation perfectly captures what your family’s typical vacation would be?

Which vacation was the most different or unusual?

Which vacation stands out because things did not go exactly as planned?

Which vacation took you furthest from home?

Which vacation do family members most like to talk about when they get together today?  

 Which vacation included the largest number of people along for the experience?

Which vacation, if you were given a magic wand, would you go back to right now?

 So dust off those memories of beaches, mountains, crowded cars, exciting airplane rides, new states visited (and new state license plates to check off your list!), new countries explored. Tell us the facts, paint the pictures, and share your feelings experienced along the way. Capture those moments when everyday life was suspended and something different emerged. The life story you are writing will really start to heat up when you do!

- Kevin Quirk, life-story ghostwriter and author of “Your Life Is a Book – And It’s Time to Write It! An A-to-Z Guide to Help Anyone Write Their Life Story” (www.yourlifeisabook.com)

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When You Publish a Book about Your Life Story, Enjoy Your Book Launch Party

Posted on May 16, 2011 by admin

So you’re envisioning what it might be like when you finish writing a book about your life story and someday guide it to publication. You’re anticipating the satisfaction, and the relief, from having seen your project through from start to finish. You’re feeling excited, and maybe a little bit nervous, about your family, friends, coworkers and yes, even strangers, reading your very personal accounts of your life experience. Maybe you’re even flashing to images of getting a surprise phone call from someone like…Oprah? Don’t forget to add to your visions a very important moment to plan for and bring to fruition: a fun and meaningful Book Launch Party!

I just had the pleasure of attending a Book Launch Party for John Thomas, one of my clients who happens to live in my city of Charlottesville, Virginia. John has just published his book “MY SAINTS ALIVE: Reflections on a Journey of Love, Loss and Life.” The book is a moving compilation of stories and experiences born from John’s rich, soulful journey of having two loves of his life who both died from breast cancer. The book is both a profound portrait of the possibilities of a grief journey after losing a loved one, and an engaging, living tribute to Susan and Barbara, his two wives, with whom he maintains an active spiritual relationship.  You can learn more about the book by visiting John’s website: http://www.mysaintsalive.com/.

I first began listening to John’s stories when he was a student in my Autobiographical Writing class at the University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies in Fall 2009. After the eight-week class ended, I assisted him as a life book coach and adviser, helping him shape and organize the reflections that kept pouring from his soul to his pen at 3 or 4 in the morning. When John felt ready to share his accounts in a book, he made an unusual and thoughtful choice: he would order a small number of hardcover copies to give to family, friends, and others who had helped him on his jouney, as well as a softcover edition for retail forums.

When it came time for the Book Launch Party, John carefully wrapped each copy of the hardcover book and printed a personal inscription for each recipient. He invited not only family and friends but those who had assisted him in producing the book: myself, his graphic design specialist, his website developer, his therapeutic guide, his proofreader, his photographer. While I can’t begin to describe the care and attention John devoted to arranging his home for this event, I will provide one clue: because one wife loved pink roses and another loved white roses, we were greeted by white and pink everywhere, right down to the napkins! John spoke for a few minutes to share his appreciation to all the important people in his life and to reflect on his book, ending with a brief excerpt. Then it was time for the cake!

The event was memorable both for John and for those of us privileged to attend. Your own Book Launch Party is sure to be that for you as well. It doesn’t really matter where you have it, how you decorate the space, what food or drink you serve, or what words you speak. The idea is to provide an experience for you, and for those you care about, and to honor what it is you have done by capturing your life story or some part of it in your own book. In my own new book “YOUR LIFE IS A BOOK – AND IT’S TIME TO WRITE IT: An A-to-Z Guide to Help Anyone Write Their Life Story,” I name the Book Launch Party as a step just as important as any of the writing, organizing, or editing. It’s a time for others to say “Hooray!” to you, and for you to sit back and say to yourself, “Wow, I really did it.”

- Kevin Quirk, life-story ghostwriter, personal historian, editor, and author of “YOUR LIFE IS A BOOK – AND IT’S TIME TO WRITE IT! An A-to-Z Guide to Help Anyone Write Their Life Story.” Member of the Association of Personal Historians.

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