John: What is our legacy?
What do we leave behind after
we're gone?
During the pandemic many of us
pondered these sorts of
questions.
Now more and more people are
writing their stories, passing
on legacies in the form of
memoirs.
As Jeffrey brown tells us, these
books -- once reserved for the
famous -- are now more
accessible than ever.
Jeffrey: Deborah felt sure she
had a story to tell.
Her work on pandemics for the
united nations and centers for
the disease control had taken
her around the world over four
decades.
>> I realized like others said
and kierkegaard said, you have
to live life moving forward but
you can only understand it
looking backwards.
My primary audience I have to
say, the young women I was
meeting in my career who
identified with the struggles
and trials I have been through.
I think young women often
struggle to balance family and I
had two daughters and a career.
And self-confidence.
I wanted to share my lessons.
Jeffrey: The 69-year-old semi
retiree also had her own family
in mind, hoping to preserve that
legacy as well.
She often walked the paths
outside her home in San
Francisco for inspiration and
when she had writers block.
>> I've written reports for the
U.N. And CDC and you also have
to have evidence for every thing
right.
It was hard to do creative
non-fiction.
I'm second-guessing, am I
providing evidence?
Jeffrey: In the end she turned
to storytellers to get it across
the finish line.
>> They could help me Polish,
cut it in half, make it more
readable, and more important for
me, I wanted to get it done and
I wanted a hard copy book.
>> We want to make it easy to
collaborate with your writer and
editor.
Jeffrey: The idea was come up
with for near -- come up with
nearly a decade ago.
>> My grandpa used to tell me
lots of stories about the second
World War and the resistance
group, and after he passed away,
those stories faded.
After since that happened I've
been thinking about why do we
lose the stories of people we
care about?
Jeffrey: This is just one in a
proliferation of men where --
memoir writing services.
Full ghostwriting can cost
upwards of $30,000, or editorial
help or services like story
work, which for an hundred
dollars, you can email questions
for a year.
>> People realize this is a gift
you can give your family no one
else can give.
Jeffrey: James knows about
telling stories, he is an
obituary writer for the wall
Street journal.
>> I did a story about a woman
who lived to 115, and she could
tell me more about Warren G.
Harding than Donald Trump.
No one had ever heard about her
but when I wrote her obituary it
was one of the most popular
things I had written.
It underlined me that you don't
have to be famous to have a
story to tell.
Jeffrey: Technology is opening
the door to a much wider group
of people.
>> These apps make it easier for
a lot of people to do what can
be a daunting task.
Jeffrey: Gail from another
writing service says the
interviewers they hire are
integral to the writing process,
helping unlock stories.
>> Not everyone is a natural
storyteller.
Not everyone telling their story
recognizes the parts of the
story that might be very
interesting.
Not everyone is thinking in
terms of how well this story
makes sense 100 years from now,
what part is missing.
You need to be very tuned in
with what will make that story.
>> I believe listening to
people's stories is a way to
intertwine your life with others
and get that connection.
Jeffrey: This is one of the
companies many interviewers.
>> I believe it doesn't matter
where you come from or what kind
of background you have, there is
a story and someone can learn
from it and be inspired by it.
You have something to share.
>> I hope in writing this book
you will gain insights for my
successes and failures and see
that one woman truly can make a
difference in this world and so
can you could -- so can you.
In many of the places I worked I
was the only woman or one of a
few.
My position as a relative
outsider taught me to be
creative and strategic.
I gained the wisdom to realize
when I had reached a dead end,
which enabled me to back away
and head in a more different,
more fruitful direction.
Most of all I learned that a
motivated individual could make
a lasting impact in this world.
Jeffrey: It took her four years
but Deborah finally finished and
published her memoir in 2022.
She dedicated it to her
daughters and grandsons.
For pbs news weekend, I am
Jeffrey brown.
♪♪