LifeBook – A legacy lived, a legacy shared

We come across many reasons why our clients want to create or gift an autobiography, but whatever the motivation it can be cathartic and enlightening to be interviewed about your own life. 

This recording is from one of our clients Anne, who bought a LifeBook for her mother, who is in her 90s and also a tribute book for her father.

Anne – A LifeBook Client

‘Hello, my name is Anne Stephens. I thought long and hard about trying to do a story for Mum, especially her experience during the war. Her father was a farmer in Sussex during the war and they ran a B&B here and I know there are lots of stories that she’s told me over the years about her life here as a teenager and when she was a land girl during the war. My dad’s story we’re also doing at the moment though he has passed away and all about his military campaigns in the war. All about his life, his father’s life and his mother’s life which was extraordinary, travelling in the Far East in the early part of the last century and right up to his death here in Sussex. My mum’s still alive aged 94 and enjoying her book immensely and we’ve got lots of copies. We lend them to friends and they’re all inspired’

The role of a LifeBook interviewer is extremely important to making the experience interesting and enjoyable for the Author. We hear from Diana and what she loves about being an interviewer.

Diana – A LifeBook Interviewer

‘What I love about being an interviewer is I get to listen to the most amazing and fascinating life stories and everyone, whatever they have done in their life, has a story to tell, be it of love, friendship, work, travel. I feel incredibly privileged to be part of the process of recording someone’s memories and, rather selfishly, I get to take away a piece of advice from every story I hear’ 

The author is of course the most important part of this journey and our aim is for them to enjoy the project as they recount stories of their life to an interviewer, but then sharing the LifeBook with family and friends is a fantastic gift and legacy.

Keith - A LifeBook Author

‘In the past, I’ve enjoyed telling my children, and later my grandchildren, about my own childhood which, of course, was so vastly different from their own. They always seemed amazed. I was persuaded by my daughter to record these memories in written form, primarily for my grandchildren, using LifeBook. I’d always collected photographs of my ancestors that I remembered well and these would illustrate my memories. The process for completing the LifeBook exercise was very exciting and wonderfully managed by them. It brought back many happy memories that I had almost forgotten. I realised I had enjoyed some exciting and historic times. All my grandchildren received a beautiful bound copy and all think it was well worthwhile and gives them a first-hand description of their ancestors. Well done LifeBook’ 

LifeBook have a large collection of professional ghost-writers, in the US, UK and around the world. The ability to create a sympathetic and engaging narrative from our Author’s recordings is a skill one has to develop. As Alwyn says in his testimonial the key is “capturing the voice of the person whose life story you’re listening to”.

Alwyn – A LifeBook Ghostwriter

‘The thing I most like from a writing point-of-view is really capturing the voice of the person whose life story you’re listening to so you get a sense of them as a person, as an individual. You get a sense of their approach to life and everything else and, obviously, you listen as they speak their words and it’s your job to piece it together in a more organised way perhaps or take out a few of the bumps. You get real appreciation as a writer of their whole life really and everything that that means as they look back, you get a sense of their aspirations, the background to values, their whole life. Sometimes you get a real sense of, and then their relationships, what’s happened in families, marriages, whatever else, which is really moving often and you get a sense to of their regrets as they look back and, also, of their real hopes and ambitions for their future or, perhaps, their children or grandchildren’s future as well’

We hope you enjoyed listening to our testimonials.

If we’ve kindled your interest in a LifeBook project for yourself or maybe a loved one please feel free to contact us.

Call 0800 999 2280, email digest@lifebookuk.com or visit the LifeBook website.

Everyone has a story to tell.