Julie Andrews is back. No, not in the sense that you might be thinking about, but back on the front page, if you will. The singer that made musicals such as “The Sound of Music” and “Mary Poppins” has released a new memoir: “Home: A Memoir of My Early Years” and it’s not exactly a “spoonful of sugar” if you get my drift.
I won’t spoil the image for you but to say that Andrews’ early years were more than difficult. With that in mind, it is amazing to note how far she came as an actress and singer to star in as many Broadway and silver screen classics when you take her childhood into account.
If you would like to read USA Today’s article on the release, here is the link:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-03-31-julie-andrews-memoir_N.htm
Also included in the link is a selection of pictures taken during Andrews’ childhood.
I mention this because autobiographies are becoming more and more scarce – while at the same time becoming more and more important.
My grandfather was lucky enough to live to the ripe age of 84 before he passed away in December of last year. But in 1992 when he was 68, he sat down at a word processor and wrote his own memiors which he self published in a 102-page retrospective (eseentially 26 pieces of 8.5×11 paper folded in half with four pages on each leaf). He had it bound inexpensively by a local college’s print shop and made 50 copies for family and friends. Now that he is gone, his autobiography is something that I read every now and then – especially the latter chapters which relate to how I knew him the most.
There are two big benefits for autobiographies. One is obvious: to read the words of a relative or friend after they are gone makes their spirit feel so much nearer. The second is that the manuscript (which was saved on computer) can be read by my grandchildren without any fear of it being lost. The book that my grandfather signed for me will fade and someday come into disrepair. The words however, they will live on so long as there is a digital copy of the book.
I do believe that it is important to write things down and to keep an account of our lives, but I think that it is even more important that when we can, we must take advantage of opportunities to teach younger generations – and the autobiography is one of them. Even if you are not a great writer, you can do the same thing with a microphone and a tape player and even a video recorder. If you’d like help, please contact us and we will try to answer all of your questions, or we can do it for you if you’d like.
