If Memory Serves - A Memoirist on Writing About The Past

How do we remember our past? What stories do we tell ourselves that become ingrained as memories even though the stories might not be real? 

Author, memoirist, and septuagenarian Jonathan Lerner sits down with Jane Trombley to reveal discoveries about his teen years outside Washington DC as he researched for his latest memoir, Performance Anxiety. Some of the stories he recalled didn’t quite line up with reality, a discovery that caught him by surprise. 

Jonathan also talks about his earlier memoir, Swords in the Hands of Children, chronicling his early adult years as he dropped out of college, joined the anti-war movement and the militant Weather Underground organization. It took him nearly thirty years to process the experience, and gain enough distance to write a successful memoir, despite easy access to public archival material, early manuscripts and recorded interviews with former colleagues. Swords was published in early 2017. 

What is the upshot of delving into long-ago memories? As Jonathan says, “The result can be a kind of peacemaking with yourself and self-forgiveness, (and) maybe forgiveness of someone else.”

We close with some pro tips for all us amateur memoirists looking to capture our own stories. Have a listen.

Show links:

Memoirs:

Performance Anxiety: The Headlong Adolescence of a Mid-Century Kid

Swords in the Hands of Children: Reflections of an American Revolutionary

Website:   Jonathan Lerner

Support the show

Music in this episode includes: Blue dot-Jane & Jon Lumber Down by <a href="https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/284009">Blue Dot Sessions</a>

Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/moodmode-33139253/?utm_source=link attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=201745">Vlad Krotov</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=201745">Pixabay</a>

Support the show