Author Archives: first person productions

About first person productions

My blog "True Stories Well Told" is a place for people who read and write about real life. I’ve been leading life writing groups since 2004. I teach, coach memoir writers 1:1, and help people publish and share their life stories.

Things that Go Grrrr

By Marlene Samuels Note, Marlene assures me that 1) this is a true memory, confirmed with her siblings, and 2) her parents are not the type who would ever scare their children for fun. Draw what conclusions you will. – … Continue reading

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Bee-lieve It!

By Seth Kahan This essay recently appeared in Seth’s “Monday Morning Mojo” e-newsletter. In my thirties, I trained in search and rescue and got my Wilderness First Responder certificate, the industry standard for professional guides and trip leaders. I was … Continue reading

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A word, any word…

By Suzy Beal Something strange has been happening here in my home lately. The communication between my husband and me has been falling apart. At first, I thought it was because we just weren’t paying attention to each other. Then … Continue reading

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The Weird Girl 

By Patricia LaPointe Up until the age of twelve, I lived in the city. Twelve-year-old city girls still wore ponytails, played indoor and outdoor games, and dressed in pedal pushers and t-shirts.  Before I was to enter the seventh grade, … Continue reading

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Hush Grandma!

By Roberta (Bobbie) Johnson My grandfather, a prankster, was a kind and loving man, good-natured and playful.  In my mother’s memoirs of her childhood, most all her memories are of him. Very little mention is made of Grandma.   She was strong, … Continue reading

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Book Review: Grammar for a Full Life: How the Ways We Shape a Sentence Can Limit or Enlarge Us

By Sarah White Who would believe that a book about grammar could be fun, delightful, and thought-provoking? Lawrence Weinstein’s Grammar for a Full Life is all that. Weinstein doesn’t just want to us straight about a number of English’s famously … Continue reading

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Branching Points – A Fork in the Road

By Barbara McCarthy There have been many forks in the road in my life – college, marriage, divorce, buying a house and condo, retiring, national events, etc. But taking Guided Autobiography in the spring of 2022 is the most significant. … Continue reading

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Fandom

By Nancy Levinson “Some years back psychologists, observing the intense emotional attachment that fans develop toward actors and other celebrities, named the phenomena “parasocial relationships, with fans investing time, energy and emotion in stars who are unaware of their existence . . … Continue reading

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LifeMapping—Because Everything Happened Somewhere

By Sarah White An email recently popped into my in-box that reminded me of one of the oddest—and most entertaining—freelance writing assignments I’ve ever taken on. That email was about a reminiscence tool that you might consider for yourself or … Continue reading

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Peace

By Barbara Vander Werff When my BFF, Sandy, was in hospice, she had a sense of peace. Her disease was devastating and a shock to everyone. After her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, she died four weeks later. For those of … Continue reading

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