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Personal historian helps families preserve their stories

To perform her work as a personal historian, Diane Dassow of Lombard has to overcome procrastination — not hers, but that of others. It’s not unusual for families to postpone collecting their stories and putting them in writing.

“Even those who value the idea of preserving the family stories for future generations often assume that they have forever to do it,” said Dassow, who founded Binding Legacies in 2004 to help people save their stories. “They don’t want to think about how, in the tick of a clock, the opportunity can be lost forever.”

She experienced this type of loss in her own life when her mother died 25 years ago. At the time, Dassow’s daughter was 18 months old. Consequently, she doesn’t remember her maternal grandmother.

“I think this experience was an important step toward my finding this career. I began to realize the importance of preserving the voices and values of our loved ones,” she said.

“It was too late to get Mom’s life story in her own words. Much later, after I had been in business for a while, I put together a book of memories and tributes about Mom based on interviews with other people,” she said. “But it’s not the same.”

Dassow is accustomed to working with busy, active seniors who just don’t have the time or may not have some of the skills to write their own personal histories.

“Many of my clients are owners of family businesses, and some have been immigrants for whom English is a second language,” she said. “They aren’t comfortable expressing themselves in writing, but they have important stories and values to communicate to their grandchildren, great-grandchildren and descendants yet to be born.”

With Dassow’s help through questions and a format she calls a guided monologue, a client can tell his or her life story in recorded interview sessions. After transcribing the interviews, the personal historian prepares a draft manuscript, usually in the narrator’s voice. This becomes a working document and is subject to change.

“A narrator always has the final say about what to include and what to leave out,” Dassow said.

Couples, too, can create a blended personal history, she added.

A personal history can take the form of a privately published hard-bound book, a simple printout of the transcript or just the interview recordings on compact disc. Whatever the media, Dassow said, the goal is saving the stories for the purpose of sharing them.

Dassow is a member, and past board member, of the Association of Personal Historians, an international trade organization. The Chicago chapter of APH recently established a list of speaking topics its members offer.

“An amazing group of people want to spread the word about sharing family legacies,” said Rhonda Kalkwarf, coordinator of the Chicago chapter. “Creation of the speakers bureau will help connect groups to lively presenters and therefore amplify our message.”

The message?

“Don’t wait,” Dassow said. “Everyone has a story. If you haven’t taken steps to preserve yours, now is the time.”

For details contact Diane Dassow at (630) 932-1523, or through BindingLegacies.com.

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