Two days ago our friend Ruth drove my Seeing Eye dog Luna and me to the Admiral At the Lake, a retirement community where I lead memoir-writing classes every Wednesday. I wasn’t there this time to lead a writing class, though: we were there to answer questions from third-graders who attend Goudy Elementary, a Public […]

Earlier this week I got word that Hannelore (Hanna) Bratman, a writer in the memoir-writing class I used to lead at the Chicago Cultural Center, had died Monday, just short of her 104th birthday. Hannelore had age-related macular degeneration and found out about my “Me, Myself and I” writing class decades ago from volunteers who […]

Good news! Soon all of the memoir-writing classes I lead will be back in session, which means our “Senior Class” feature will be back in full swing, too. I’m getting the ball rolling by introducing Al Hippensteel as our guest blogger today. After a long career in the printing industry, Al retired, appropriately, here in […]

The two memoir-writing classes I lead in person are both starting up again this week after a month-long break. I don’t give writing prompts during breaks, but I encourage writers to write about whatever they’d like and read it at the first class of the new six-week session. Mel Washburn came back with this fast-paced, […]

The “I have a Dream” prompt I assigned writers in my classes last month inspired them to write about dreams they have for the world, for their country, and for their loved ones. Some even wrote about recurring nightmares! The one that surprised me the most? This flattering essay by today’s guest blogger Lola Hotchkis. […]