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Linda Spence's Legacy proves to be just that: the creation of a family heirloom that money couldn't buy. Through a series of thought-provoking questions about each phase in human life, Spence helps readers record their personal history, think back to feelings that any number of snapshots could never capture, and reflect upon their lives. What events occurred during your childhood? What did you like most about school? What do you wish your parents had done for you? The text includes sample essays by the author and quotations by other writers to encourage your muse.
Book Description
In this practical guide to capturing those memories that have been stored away, Linda Spence provides the questions that are the keys to unlocking the memories that make up a life. Beyond the vital statistics are the personal stories that tell what it was like, what we did, and why we did it, how we feel about our choices, and what our circumstances were. Through encouraging coaching, shared memories, and open-ended questions, the process of producing a personal history becomes intriguing and engaging. With Legacy the possibilities expand: a personal record is preserved—with its myths, traditions, joys, pains, gains, and losses; a family opens a potential dialogue that will last for generations; the writer has an opportunity for insight and resolution; the culture of a time and place is noted; the tradition of personal story is revitalized, and our present and future find nourishment and knowledge in the past. Either as a gift that can act as a shared experience as the memories are recounted or as a personal way to take account of one’s experiences, often long since forgotten, Legacy is indeed a way to get one’s story down. Linda Spence writes and collects Legacy stories in Mill Valley, California, where she lives and works as a consultant.
Customer Reviews:
A GIFT ONLY YOU CAN GIVE YOUR DESCENDANTS.......2007-07-21
What were you like as a child? What did you think? What did you do?
Not many of us escape these questions from our children and grandchildren.
This wonderful book enables us to leave a legacy of memories and history for our descendants. It gives step by step instructions on how to write
a personal history. The process also brings back many memories and gives the writer a clearer picture of his/her life experiences. At 78 I hope I have enough time to finish my gift to my family. Wish I'd had this book 20 years ago.
Gets You Started.......2006-02-28
This book is a step-by-step guide to writing your life's stories as a legacy for other family members. The author has worked with seniors for many years, gathering their stories and helping them document their life histories. In this book, she presents a simple methodology that anyone can follow to help them get over the hardest step in the process-getting started. In the introduction, she urges the reader to set aside some time and space for writing, in a notebook, on an audio cassette, on a typewriter, or on a computer, whichever is most comfortable and convenient. Then she provides lists of reflective questions to get the juices flowing. The questions are organized by topic, including earliest memories, school life, young adulthood, marriage, children, grandchildren, and later adult years. Interspersed with these questions are quotations from unknown as well as famous published memoirists whose writing illustrates the topic at hand.
Everybody has had life experiences which are fascinating, amazing, or potentially edifying for others. The trouble is, so few of these stories ever get passed on because it's so hard to actually sit down and write them. With this book, Spence makes the task seem easy. Writers can sit down with the book, open to a page at random, and begin writing responses to her prompts. Or they can begin with the first question and work methodically through the book. Each question can easily require an entire essay to answer in full. Once the individual essays start collecting, the raw material is ready to edit into a book. Or, the answers can simply be left as drafts in the writer's notebook to be passed on to others as a legacy. It should be noted that Spence's goal is to help readers to document their life histories in a positive way so as to create a product that can be passed on to other family members, rather than to explore negative memories as a means of self-growth. The book is not about style, grammar, or esthetic qualities of writing. Spence finds it more important for writers to use their own voices naturally rather than to adopt formal stylistic attributes. The book would make an excellent gift for older family members who have stories to tell but just haven't gotten around to writing them down yet.
Enough questions to last a lifetime.......2005-09-05
I am teaching a life history class for the first time and am using Linda Spence's book as part of my curriculum. She literally has hundreds and hundreds of questions to ask which can be a little daunting, but just remember to take only a few at a time and know that not all questions will pertain to you. In the end, the answers will give a lot of good information to your children or grandchildren that you can leave as is or refine in "book" form. This book is also good for audio or video testimonials as you can just answer the questions for a more informal feeling.
Excellent guide.......2004-07-28
I taped 16 hours of memories using Spence's book to interview my 87 year old father. It was a wonderful way of connecting as he lived more in the past as he aged. He was delighted to have my full attention and I enjoyed hearing his life story. The book helped me to organize material for the interviews. Last year I transcribed, edited and published the memoir as a gift for his children and grandchildren. He had seen a draft of it before his death and was thrilled that his life was recorded for posterity.
Strong General Outline.......2004-06-18
As a writer who often gets stuck, I enjoyed the prompts in this book as great starting points. The shared stories are also fun to read - not too long but enough to get me started. I would have liked to see in this book, in the parenting section, prompts for the adult who is facing infertility. While it's impossible for one author to cover every aspect of life, infertility consumes so many people today that I would really enjoy a series of prompts focused on this life issue - it changes lives, dampens dreams, disconnects one from society, and alters the way we approach the American dream.
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Thou Shalt Not Kill Unless Otherwise Instructed: Poems And Stories
Mike Sharpe
Manufacturer: North Castle Books
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0765617226 |
Book Description
This paperback edition of The Coming Generational Storm has been revised and updated and includes a new foreword by the authors.
In 2030, as 77 million baby boomers hobble into old age, walkers will outnumber strollers; there will be twice as many retirees as there are today but only 18 percent more workers. How will Social Security and Medicare function with fewer working taxpayers to support these programs? According to Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns, if our government continues on the course it has set, we'll see skyrocketing tax rates, drastically lower retirement and health benefits, high inflation, a rapidly depreciating dollar, unemployment, and political instability. The government has lost its compass, say Kotlikoff and Burns, and the Bush administration's spending and tax policies have charted a course straight into the coming generational storm.
Kotlikoff and Burns take us on a guided tour of our generational imbalance: There's the "fiscal child abuse" that will double the taxes paid by the next generation. There's also the "deficit delusion" of the under-reported national debt. And none of this, they say, will be solved by any of the popularly touted remedies: cutting taxes, technological progress, immigration, foreign investment, or the elimination of wasteful government spending. Kotlikoff and Burns propose bold new policies, including meaningful reforms of Social Security and Medicare, that are simple, straightforward, and geared to attract support from both political parties.
Customer Reviews:
Essential Reading - Save Early and Save Often.......2007-08-08
This book should be required reading for all high-school sophomores who are going to inherit the economic problems the authors lay out in the prologue. The more awareness my generation (x) and the younger generations get about the mounting economic conditions we will face within the next 25 years, the better prepared we will all be to fix, or at least adjust to them.
At times the book is a bit too academic and for that I give it only 4 stars but there are parts that you can skip and still not miss the authors' explanation of why we are doomed and what - possibly - we can do to mitigate the situation. Robert Shiller summarizes the points that the authors make below:
"There's a lot of frivolous criticism of our politicians, but this book hits the mark, convincingly documenting their biggest sin: the failure to account for the magnitude of a huge government deficit crisis. The accounting scandals of Enron, WorldCom, and Parmalat pale by comparison. Read this book so you can start preparing for much higher taxes in the future for you and your children."
--Robert J. Shiller, Yale University, author of Irrational Exuberance and The New Financial Order
Perhaps the worst part of all of this is that we CAN fix the debt obligations that are hanging over us but doing so would require massive sacrifices on behalf of all citizens (unlikely since so many of us "expect" the government to play a role in financing our retirement and healthcare) as well as for both sides of the political aisle to work together (even more unlikely in these partisan times when all the Dems and Republicans want to do is blame one another). Failure to grasp the gravity of a $54 Trillion debt obligation and its impact on the quality of our lives will only continue to erode the value of the dollar as more developing nations such as China, India and Brazil increase their ownership of the US by buying up Treasuries that the government continues to issue. Not good, especially when so many of our middle class jobs are being lost to these countries at the same time.
This is perhaps the most important issue of our time. Until voters are heard and a real politician runs on a platform to fix the escalating economic crisis that awaits us all, do what you can to prepare yourself; save as much as possible in both tax deferred and taxed accounts (the latter of which will benefit you in the future since you will likely be in a lower tax rate today than you will 20 years from now when the govt. has no choice but to raise personal income taxes to finance the debt). Also, go to the gao.gov website and click on "Fiscal Wake Up Tour" in the left hand gutter, then click on the CBS New Program 60 Minutes hyperlink. If you dont have the time to read this book, at least read this article and watch the video interview with the head of the GAO office. By that time, the message and its implications should be painfully clear to you.
Informative, but speculative.......2007-01-10
Kotlikoff and Burns rightly portray congress, the president, judges, the AARP, and anyone else who favors increases, or even the status quo, of social security, Medicare, and Medicaid policies as truly irresponsible. The fact that these three entitlement programs will bankrupt the country within 50 years has been known for at least 10 years (when I started to pay attention to politics). Every year, reforms are spoken about, even good ones that would for the most part protect the programs. But every year, the situation becomes worse because nothing is done. And Bush II foolishly expanded Medicare.
On the flip side, economic predictions decades into the future seems fairly irresponsible as well. As is pointed out in this book, other countries are in far worse condition than the US for the same stupidly financed entitlement packages. They will go belly up first. While the US will certainly feel their pain as well since their economies are intimately tied to ours, we will learn from their mistakes and fix our own problems.
All my life, I've been listening that one disaster after another is going to crush us. In grade school, I learned that we would run out of food in the mid 80's through the 90's and billions would starve to death. Didn't happen. Humans now consume more calories on average throughout the whole world than ever before. Then in grade school and middle school I learned that we would run out of energy. Despite the blip of the last year, oil prices have steadily been dropping and they will continue to drop. We will never run out of oil or energy. Destruction of the ozone layer. It's still there. The depletion of our forests. The US today has more forest cover than 80 years ago. Foreign holdings of the US debt. Nuclear war.
And on and on, disaster after disaster that never materialized. Not because the harping drew attention to the problem, but because in the stating of every single problem, the assumption was that nothing would change. That the human response would not adapt as new information and incentives came about. Not a smart assumption.
We will solve the entitlement problem, but, yes indeed, we will have to feel the pain first. And so what? We'll still solve the problem. The sun will rise in the east and set in the west and the US will be around for a long time and in a dominant position, social security, Medicare, and Medicaid not withstanding. The US and the world will continue to become a better place, but in fits and starts.
I've always been an optimist. I really do believe in the power of imagination and human ingenuity.
Generational Fear Should be Great.......2007-01-09
This book gives a great review of the issues facing America in this century due to government give aways. After reading it I found that several current news stories seemed to be confirming the predictions in the book. The numbers are 3 years old, but the suggestions for saving Social Security and Medicare still seem to be valid. I was a little disappointed in the funds listed in the book, but I have received updated listings by visiting the Scott Burns web site.
A Sobering Assessment.......2006-12-05
Per Kotlkoff and Burns (who base their findings on Government projections), the present value of unfunded future liabilities for Social Security and Medicare is $45 trillion (some nine times the size of our "National debt"). The reasons: longer human life spans due to advances in medical science, retirement of the baby boomers, and the disconnect between the consumption of medical services and the responsibility for paying for them.
Drastic action would be required to close the gap now, e.g., (a) increase federal income taxes by 69%, (b) increase payroll taxes by 95%, or (c) cut Social Security and Medicare benefits by 45%. We could make even more drastic adjustments in a few years. Or, we could do nothing and let the U.S. economy go into a meltdown with double-digit inflation fueled by the Government printing money.
Our political leaders are trying to ignore the problem, and, as Kotlikoff and Burns explain, the fault is ours. "The last thing we want is Uncle Sam telling us to save now for a tidal wave of obligations when the baby boomers retire. So we make sure that doesn't happen. We hire [elect?] politicians who tell us what we want to hear."
The authors go on to present a plan for reform, but they don't expect their plan (or other reforms that could save the system) to be enacted. They end with advice as to how workers should attempt to look after themselves and their families if the politicians in Washington "miss this opportunity to save our ship of state."
One thing bothers me about the analysis. Accepting that the fiscal gap is every bit as bad as it is depicted, this problem was created by Government action. Why should we attempt to solve it by giving the Government even greater responsibilities, such as running the world's largest index fund, assessing the health risks of every senior in the country, deciding how much society needs to spend for health care, etc.? It might be more logical under the circumstances to move in the direction of less Government and let people make choices (such as how long should I work, what medical care do I and others in my family need, etc.) for themselves.
Even if the authors don't have all the answers, however, they have diagnosed the problem very well. "The Coming Generational Storm" is entertainingly written and refreshingly nonpartisan (lambasting both Republicans and Democrats with vigor). Don't miss it.
A retort to the complaints about this book.......2006-11-27
The negative reviews of this book tend to note the following: we cannot predict the future and, yet, this book purports to predict what will happen in the future.
On the one hand, this is a valid criticism - it IS true that we cannot predict how things might change over the next few decades. If some changes occur, they may invalidate the predictions of this book. In fact, I would wager that this book ends up being wrong on a number of fronts.
However, one response to this criticism is that the best information that we have about the future is based on current trends. Absent information about unknown innovations, how could we do any better? Using information about current trends is exactly what this book does. Any alternative future is necessarily based on more tenuous predictions.
Moreover, the authors are very, very careful (and I cannot emphasize how careful they are) about the caveats associated with their predictions - they consistently note that no one can predict the future with certainty and that their predictions are based on the best available information.
They then go even further. They consider scenarios that may invalid their predictions such as technological change (i.e. productivity increases) and carefully argue that those changes would be implausible or, at the very least, insufficient to alter the basic gist of their message.
In the end, the authors try a great deal to innoculate themselves against the criticism regarding the uncertain future. They will almost certainly not be correct, and they concede this point throughout. But their predictions are based on more careful analysis than the knee-jerk response that "we cannot predict the future" which ends up being a vacuous criticism since it is not refutable.
What annoys me about this whole issue is that it is quite clear that we are facing a future crisis even if these guys are wrong about the details. And yet our politicians do not have the guts to face up to it. I think that we need a blue ribbon, non-partisan panel that includes serious people like Kotlikoff (who is a serious, well-regarded economist) to consider the issues and make recommendations. Most politicians either do not understand the issues or do not have the chutzpah to confront them. Something has to be done, and even if this book ends up being wrong, at least it's a call to action.
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What Makes a Bird a Bird?
May Garelick
Manufacturer: Mondo Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1572550082 |
Product Description
The surprises never end in this Magic Ribbon Book about music.
A family of birds introduces early readers to music, note by note. Colorful ribbons add more pizzazz--one for each musical note--that thread the book together as each page adds a shiny new ribbon.
While learning their Do Re Mi, kids will love the surprise climax, compliments of a musical sound chip!
This educational book is a feast for the eyes and ears.
Customer Reviews:
Waht makes music?.......2006-11-03
Very cute, visually pleasing, with real potential for introducing informative concepts to young children. However, I was very disappointed with how the book works. Colored ribbons are used to designate notes on a musical scale, but there were no sounds on each page until the last page. At first, I thought I received a malfunctioning book, but I ordered two of them and both was the same. Very disappointing.
Neat book, music chip defective.......2004-06-05
Its a short and simple book that introduces the 8 note music scale. The ribbons are a neat concept and hold up well. The music chip at the back was defective from the start.
We sing the doe-a-deer song with it sometimes--because the story is simple. It is a clever book though, for finding a concrete way to explain to very young children the concept of music notes. You can't go wrong with it, my seven year old likes to read it too.
Wish it worked the first time.......2003-05-01
I ordered two copies of this book. It is charming just like "What Makes a Rainbow", though I was disappointed to discover that the musical sound chip in both copies was defective. I've ordered replacements, but am hesitant to recommend this book.
WEAK COMPARED TO WHAT MAKES A RAINBOW.......2002-04-24
We got "What Makes A Rainbow" as a gift and the baby has loved it since 3 weeks old. It is one of our very favorite books and it inspired us to try this book, but the music chip was defective and the story is weak. Maybe our timing was off in terms of when we introduced it, but our baby never got interested in it.
Not your typical pop-up book!.......2002-04-22
My husband is a former public school music educator and chose this book for one of our son's two-year birthday gifts. We had no idea it would be such a hit! In less then one week, he learned the musical scale by heart!
Although called a "pop-up", this wonderful little book is really much more resilient and well made than a standard pop-up. Instead of typical paper pop-ups, each page reveals a beautiful ribbon of a different color to represent each note on the musical scale. Imaginative and sweet illustrations show how Mama bird teaches her baby how to make music, and baby bird learns the notes of the scale along with the reader. Each ribbon is sized according to the ascending note on the scale and makes a lovely visual effect when the scale is complete. This could also be a great tool for teaching colors!
My son is thrilled when we get to the last page and the ultimate pop-up, (this one is paper but well made) of Mama bird playing her scales in full glory, each one labeled and in corresponding color from the previous pages. You'll love the sparkle in your child's eyes when he discovers the best surprise of all - a well concealed music chip that plays the scale in ascending then descending order when you reach the grand finale' final page!
A lovely and charming book that will have your little one memorizing the musical scale and colors of the rainbow with eager delight.
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Birds In Art (What Makes a Masterpiece?)
Brigitte Baumbusch
Manufacturer: Gareth Stevens Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
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ASIN: 0836844432 |
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What Makes a Bird? (Stone, Lynn M. Animal Kingdom.)
Lynn M. Stone
Manufacturer: Rourke Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
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ASIN: 1559161949 |
Books:
- Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America And American in Iran
- Living My Life, Vol. 1
- Living Proof: A Medical Mutiny
- Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language
- Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians (Mathematicians Are People, Too)
- Moments with the Savior
- MONK SWIMMING, A: A MEMOIR
- More, Now, Again: A Memoir of Addiction
- My Land and My People: The Original Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet
- My Life With Sylvia Browne
Books Index
Books Home
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How to Write Your Own Life Story: The Classic Guide for the Nonprofessional Writer
Touching Tomorrow: How to Interview Your Loved Ones to Capture a Lifetime of Memories on Video or Audio
To Our Children's Children Book
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From Memories to Manuscript: The Five-Step Method of Writing Your Life Story
