9. “I became known as Lily Casey, the
mustang-breaking, poker-playing,
horse-race-winning schoolmarm of
Coconino County, and it wasn't half
bad to be in place where no one had a
problem with a woman having a
moniker like that.”
—From Half Broke Horses
@ K E L L Y K A U T Z
20. WHERE TO START
Your own memories
Legacy: A Step-by-Step
Guide to Writing Personal
History
by Linda Spence
Old Friend from Far Away:
The Practice of Writing Memoir
by Natalie Goldberg
@ K E L L Y K A U T Z
40. “If people wanted you
to write warmly about them,
they should have behaved better.”
—Anne Lamott
@ K E L L Y K A U T Z
41. “If I tell a story involving someone else,
I make sure to tell it from my point of
view. …Otherwise, I'd just be stealing his
story.”
—Meghan Daum
@ K E L L Y K A U T Z
43. “The biggest responsibility we
have
to truth is to be plain about what
we don’t know. This doesn’t
mean we can’t use imagination,
but readers should know what they
are getting.”
—Amy Kurzweil@ K E L L Y K A U T Z
47. LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH
Facebook.com/AuthorKellyKautz
The Skeleton Club.com
KellyWatsonKautz@gmail.com
Editor's Notes
We’ll start with a little pop culture before we dive into the meat of the presentation. So, how many of you have seen the Handmaid’s Tale?
What did you think of it?
This is the first TV show I’ve felt excited about in a while, because it’s filmed so beautifully. Every shot is like an old master’s painting. And of course the story line is fascinating as well.
How many of you read the book? OK. Who remembers who the book was dedicated to?
I didn’t know, either, until I heard Margaret Atwood give an interview on Studio 360. Mary Webster.
Mary Webster.
Margaret Atwood was rumored to be a descendant of a 17th century New England woman named Mary Webster, who was hanged by Puritans during the Salem Witch Hunts and lived to tell the tale.
Mary Webster. Alleged witch.
She was a New England woman living around the time of the Salem Witch Trials, who was found guilty of being a witch, hanged, and somehow managed to survive. She lived for another few decades.
The story captured Atwood’s curiosity. She wrote a poem about her, called “The Half Hanged Mary,” and wanted to write a novel but didn’t know enough about life in the 17th century to do it realistically. So she set the story in the near future, and changed some of the details, and it became The Handmaid’s Tale. Which still resonates with us today.
Walls called it “an oral history, a retelling of stories handed down by my family through the years.”
Walls called it “an oral history, a retelling of stories handed down by my family through the years.”
For medical records, you’ll need lots and lots of official documents to prove that you’re the next of kin.
How many of you have seen this quote?
But Lamott admits to getting approval from her son, Sam, before publishing intimate details about their lives.
