GRAVETTE — So often it happens that generations of loved ones pass and children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren know little about the lives and experiences of their ancestors, but one Gravette writer is hoping to change that by helping people leave behind a written and recorded account of their memoirs for family members to read and enjoy for generations to come.
Leslie Olson, an experienced and qualified journalist with a degree from the University of Denver, with specialized training in writing memoirs and having traveled the world working with people, has started a new business called Human Write Communications. Part of her work, called “Legacy Writing Services,” includes interviewing people and writing and recording their personal histories for a reasonable fee.
Olson’s husband, Matt Paul, who works with Systems Specialists in Bentonville and is experienced in designing and setting up audio and video home theater systems, would also record the interviews, making it possible for families to have both a written and audio account of a loved one’s memoirs for themselves and for posterity.
“I am blessed to have a good relationship with my grandparents,” Leslie said, “and I grew up hearing their stories. But many families don’t have that, and loved ones die without passing their legacy on to future generations.”
Her basic plan, though she is flexible to meet whatever a family needs, is to administer a brief questionnaire to interviewees. She will then sit down with a person and interview them about their chosen life events. An informal interview session will last about two hours. Olson will then provide a 20-page professionally-written document, as well as a digital recording of the interview, so that family members can read the memoirs and listen to the interview at any time.
Leslie hopes that, through her services, many families will learn their own family history and be able to hear and read stories that otherwise would have been lost forever.
“I believe that knowing the stories of the rich lives our friends and families have lived can really help to start deeper conversations with our loved ones while we still have the opportunity to ask questions of them,” Olson says of her work. “This familiarity increases our appreciation of the everyday heroes in our lives. It also helps to improve our knowledge about where we come from and where we are going.”
As a sideline to helping families by writing memoirs for the living, Olson also is offering a service to families to assist them in writing obituaries for their loved ones and collecting shared family memories.
More information on Olson and her business can be obtained at her Web Site, www.humanwritesite.com. Olson may also be contacted at 479-721-8976.
News, Pages 2 on 10/20/2010