She walked into my class about eight years ago, Gene and her daughter, Mia. Gene was in her mid-eighties then, and she wanted to enroll in one of my memoir writing classes. “I think she belongs in your advanced class,” Mia said. “She’s pretty good.” Little did I know just how good. When she read her first story in class several weeks later, I could have jumped for joy, for clearly Gene had a gift for writing, something I’ve run across less than a dozen times in all my years of teaching. Some students are good writers, in the way that some pianists are good musicians because they’ve spent years taking lessons and practicing. But there are always a few that have that certain spark, that gift that makes them stand out in a crowd of other talented people.

Gene’s writing was like that, and she quickly became a star in class, a role model who showed others how stories should be told. And we all learned a lot from Gene over the years. Every time she stood to read her stories in class, we knew we were in for something special. We hung on her every word, and afterward we analyzed what she did to make her stories resonate so much with us. It had something to do with honesty…she didn’t shirk from telling it like it was. She didn’t shy away from admitting her own weaknesses and past mistakes. Consequently, her stories felt real and powerful, often grabbing us in the gut. I posted one of those gut-grabbing stories on my blog earlier. It can be found HERE.

Gene was also a keen observer of people and understood the subtleties of human nature. When you spoke to her, she looked you directly in the eye with those clear blue eyes of hers. I always felt like she was listening with all her heart, that she could see right into my soul. Gene brought that trait to her writing, infusing her stories with tiny details that individualized and brought to life the people in her stories.

And Gene, like all good writers, was a master of language. But she worked at it. She struggled for the right word that would convey the tone she was looking for. She searched for the right verb, the right noun, the right arrangement of words to create the right affect. I never had the feeling she just dashed something off, figuring it would be OK, as is. No, she always wanted perfection.

Gene regretted she didn’t have more education, and much of her writing skill was self-taught. Early in her marriage when she still had children at home, she rose at 5:30 a.m. and wrote for an hour before awakening her husband and children for breakfast. She continued this habit for years, despite her husband’s belittling taunts about writing being a waste of time. Her daughter said recently, “I really didn’t think anything about Mom getting up early to write. It was just something she did.”

After attending my class for several years, Gene received a bombshell. Her doctor diagnosed her with congestive heart failure and gave her six months to live. I remember her coming to class and reporting the news to us. Within a short time she wrote a heartfelt, inspiring story about what it feels like to learn you only have a short time to live. What happened then was amazing, generating a response Gene never could have imagined.

You see, Gene never considered herself a WRITER because she had never officially published anything. When her hospice worker, MaryLo Yetkee (also a writer) read some of Gene’s stories and heard about her lifelong desire to be published, she contacted the Dream Foundation, an organization that grants the wishes of terminally ill adults. The Foundation took the reins and contacted Beliefnet.com, who published Gene’s story on its website. From there, other organizations (asamanthinketh.net, insightsoftheday.com), picked up her story. Dream Foundation later informed Gene that her story generated more email responses than any they had published (at last count more than 2500). Eventually, even Time magazine referenced Gene’s story and her wish to be published in an article appearing in October 2006 called “A Dream Before Dying.” (You can read Gene’s story in its entirety HERE.)

As it turned out, Gene got more than her diagnosed six months. She lived for another five and a half years, finally passing away on November 27, at the age of 94. Gene lived with Mia and her family during all that time, and even before her diagnosis. They remodeled their home to create a second-floor suite for Gene with a kitchen, bedroom, and office area and installed a motorized chair that transported Gene up and down the stairway. I’ve always believed Gene’s life was extended because of the devoted care of her family.

In the years after her diagnosis, she came to class when she could, in a wheelchair and toting an oxygen tank. Mia drove her both ways, helping her out of the car and pushing her wheelchair into the classroom. When she was up to it, Gene continued to write stories that always inspired us and taught us something. In Gene’s last months, Mia arranged with a local publisher to compile all of Gene’s stories into a book that will be available for family members at Gene’s memorial service in January.

I visited Gene a couple of weeks before she passed away. Her attention span had diminished since I’d last seen her. She had difficulty following the conversation that was going on around her and finding the right words when she tried to speak. However, when I told her I was leaving, she took my hand, looked deeply in my eyes in that old way of hers, and said, “I’m so damned glad you came to see me.” I burst into laughter, shocked at these startling, frank words coming from this frail, genteel, little lady. I shouldn’t have been surprised: Gene’s words always had a way of getting to me.

Writing is a difficult, lonely occupation, one that resurrects all kinds of insecurities. Is our writing any good, or are we just laboring under some self-delusion? Do we have anything interesting to say? Does the world need one more book? Surely our time be better spent doing something else…anything else. I have these thoughts, and I know my students struggle with with similar issues.

Even professional writers who have every reason to feel confident wrestle with niggling doubts. I read an interview of award-winning novelist Ivan Doig in today’s Salt Lake Tribune. (I’m in Utah this month presenting some seminars.)  Doig has recently published his latest book, Work Song. After Doig explains that he hits the keyboard by 6:30 each morning and tries to write a “couple of hundred words a day,” the interviewer says, “[Y]ou’ve been publishing books for more than 30 years. Does it get any easier?” Doig answers simply, “No. I wish.” Hmmmm.

I write all this as background for sharing the recent accomplishments of some of my students who have garnered accolades in writing competitions. I encourage them to submit their stories to contests because it motivates them to polish their pieces and gives them something to shoot for. Most of my students are of retirement age. Entering a contest is therapeutic, a good way to show the world (and themselves) that they still have something to contribute. Besides all the psychological benefits, entering contests is just plain fun.

Marta Sarkissian, a talented writer who attends my classes, explained her participation in contests this way:  I think these two prizes have given me validation as a writer and helped me to believe I am a writer. When I think I am, then it become ok to spend more time at it. I have stopped worrying about taking time from my writing for contests, for I realize that the added scrutiny and effort make a better piece of writing….it is an exercise. I have been surprised and delighted by the warm reception I have received.

I take pride in the fact that my students have done well in past competitions. A year or so ago, several students took nearly all the top prizes in the Southern California Genealogy Society writing competition, a prestigious contest that draws submissions from all over the world. I’ve been informed of more awards recently and couldn’t be happier for these students. I know what this recognition means to them and to their confidence as writers, and I’m certain that this recognition will spur them on to further achievement. I tip my hat to the following students for accomplishments of various kinds:

• Marta Sarkissian, who won second place for her story ”Love Demands” in the Soul Making Literary Competition sponsored by Washington, D.C.’s National League of American Pen Women this spring, AND third prize in Sheila Bender’s Writing It Real contest for her story ”Searching for Mother in the Cochise Stronghold.” You can read her award-winning “Searching”story HERE.  Marta had this to say about her participation in writing contests:  “I think these two prizes have given me validation as a writer and helped me to believe I am a writer. When I think I am, then it becomes ok to spend more time at it. I have stopped worrying about taking time from my writing for contests, for I realize that the added scrutiny and effort make a better piece of writing….it is an exercise. I have been surprised and delighted by the warm reception I have received.”
• Carol Enos, who garnered TWO prizes in the 2009 Southern California Genealogy Society Writing Competition: third place for her story, “The Hessians,” and honorable mention for her story, “The Cursed War.” I posted Carol’s “The Hessians”on my blog earlier HERE.
• Mary (Betty) Nelson, who received an honorable mention award by the Southern California Genealogy Society for her story, “Acceptance,” published earlier on my blog HERE.
• Diana Kightlinger, who received an honorable mention award for her story “My Dad, Sam,” in the Sheila Bender “Righting it Real” essay competition.
• Jean Lechner, who had her story “Spring Cleaning” published in the quarterly journal of the Story Circle Network.
• Linda Missouri, who was selected “member of the month” in June by the National Association of Memoir Writers. Read her insightful NAMW interview HERE.
• Students, if I missed anyone, please let me know.

FYI, I have several workshop scheduled in the next few months. I will be giving a four-day seminar at Brigham Young University from August 16 to 20. You can find more information about this seminar HERE.

On Saturday, September 18 I’ll be presenting at the Chino Valley Family History and Genealogy Seminar in Chino Hills, California. For more information about this worthwhile, all-day event, go HERE.

Those who live in the Salt Lake City area should be aware of the fine all-day conference sponsored by the Utah chapter of the Association of Personal Historians, held at Westminster College on Friday, October 15. The conference is titled “Saving Lives, One Story at a Time.” I will teach two classes that day, joining many other instructors who will cover various aspects of writing, interviewing, publishing, creating family history videos, and more. You’ll find more information about this conference HERE.

Finally, the National Association of Memoir Writers honored me as “Member of the Month” for July. Check out my interview HERE.

Thirty-nine of my students wrote stories last spring that have been published in an anthology called A Place Called Home. All of the stories focus on some aspect of home and are organized in the book under the following categories: My Childhood Home, Playing House, A Home Away from Home, Homes through the Years, Making a Home of My Own, and Returning Home. I am proud of the fine work displayed in these stories. If you’re interested in learning more about this collection, contact me at Dawn@MemoirMentor.com.

–Memoir Mentor

Congratulations to two more of my students who each took first place awards in the Santiago Canyon College Writing Contest, open to all students of the college. Marta Sarkissian took top honors in the short story division with her story, “Reunion with Mother,” and Meada Ouzounian won first prize in the poetry division with her clever poem, “The Clone.” They both should be proud of this fine achievement.

I have some gifted writers in my classes. I’m not bragging; I’m just stating a fact anyone would agree with if he or she read some of the stories these students produce. Take Bonnie Copeland, Willie Walker, and Betty Nelson, for instance. When they stand and read their stories in class, we all sit a little taller in our seats, lean forward, and listen a little more attentively, knowing they will show us how writing should be done.

Their teacher and classmates aren’t the only ones who feel this way.
Bonnie, Willie, and Betty have consistently won awards in writing contests. This year is the first time Bonnie and Willie have both garnered first-place awards in the same contest, the prestigious Southern California Genealogy Society Writing Competition. Willie took first place in the “Long Story” category with his piece “A Boy’s First Gun,” and Bonnie won first place in the “Short Story” category with her story “Chemistry for Girls.” Betty was awarded a second place honor in the “short story” category for her piece “Dad’s Lawn,” AND a third place award for her entry, “Eggrolls for Christmas” in the “long story” category. Way to go, Betty! These are achievements Bonnie, Willie and Betty can be proud of, since their stories were selected from a large field of submissions from writers all over the world. I’m pleased as punch to have them in my class. They make their teacher look good.

–Memoir Mentor