Tag Archives: storytelling

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In memory of Karen Stuart

Has it really been 28 years since I toured China and it’s archives with the Society of American Archivists?

SAA China Archives Study Tour, 1986.

First row from right, Lynn Ewbank, Karen Stuart, SAA China Archives Study Tour, 1986.

Touring China in 1986 was one of those experiences of a lifetime for me. Karen Stuart, who worked at the Maryland Historical Society before going to the Library of Congress in 1990, was my roommate which was great because Karen had been on the earlier China tour and knew the ropes. Out of those on the trip, Karen is the only one I reconnected with via Facebook.

Karen Stuart kneeling, China, 1986. ©D.L. Ewbank

Karen Stuart kneeling, China, 1986. ©D.L. Ewbank

It broke my heart to learn Karen has passed – a huge loss for the LOC and all of us fortunate to have crossed paths with Karen.

Lynn Ewbank and Karen Stuart on the great wall, 1986. ©D.L. Ewbank

Lynn Ewbank and Karen Stuart on the extremely windy Great Wall, 1986. ©D.L. Ewbank

To cheer myself up in this loss, I try to picture her in heaven laughing with other China trippers who went before her including Smithsonian Archivist, Chinese language expert, and trip leader William “Bill” Moss; sixth Archivist of the United States Dr. Robert M. Warner; NARA Archivist Linda Henry, Karen’s father Mason Stuart, and possibly others whose passing I missed.

Lynn Ewbank, right, China 1986. ©D.L. Ewbank

Lynn Ewbank, right, China 1986. ©D.L. Ewbank

Thanks, Karen and other China trippers, for helping make that trip special. And remember, China trippers, Karen has invited you to our room for an evening of comedic Arkansas/China trip trivia where everyone wins. The prizes are things I don’t want to lug back to the U.S. like that fluffy little panda change purse. (Yes, if you win – and you will – you have to take it!!!) If I’m a little late, sing about the Qufu China Choo-Choo and tell trip stories (like the horribly rainy day Ed Weldon bought us all dry socks – I still have mine!) until I get there!

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Improv

Do you dream of telling stories as funny as those told by Bill Cosby, Ron White, Margaret Cho, or Chelsea Handler?

A brighter bulb. ©iStockphoto/choness

A brighter bulb. ©iStockphoto/choness

Improv can up your laughter factor easily and quickly. And it doesn’t have to break the budget. Whether built on “yes and,” observing patterns, or the use of games, improv teaches tools so powerful they can help the least funny of us grow our funny quotient exponentially. In 2010, I took Intensive Improv 101 at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. By the end of the week, our class was able to build improv scenes based on an audience suggestion that prompted one-minute monologues in a class show. I was hooked. That class led to two other UCB improv classes, one on the Harold, and two more intensives at Second City Hollywood where I actually discovered I have a couple of characters lurking inside me.

Can’t make it to LA, Chicago, or New York? Both the UCB and Second City have books that can be your guide: The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual, The Second City Almanac of Improvisation, or Truth in Comedy: The Manual for Improvisation.

Get a book, gather some friends, and before you know it you’re as funny as a monkey’s uncle!

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How bad do you want it?

How would you feel if you found yourself one night sleeping locked in a public bathroom? Chris Gardner was no kid when a series of troubles left him struggling, then homeless as depicted by Will Smith in the 2006 film, The Pursuit of Happyness. It is one thing to be homeless yourself; it is quite another when you have responsibility for a small child.

Public bathroom. ©iStockphoto/JordiDelgado.

Public bathroom. ©iStockphoto/JordiDelgado.

What was Gardner’s staircase out of homelessness? Gardner got a break when he was accepted into the Dean Witter Reynolds stock brokerage training program, a San Francisco based program that provided no salary. Gardner passed the licensing exam and his hard work earned him a permanent, salaried position. A few years later, he started his own brokerage firm and through hard work became a financial success.

Who did Gardner help with his hard earned wealth? According to Wikipedia, one recipient was the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church which allowed Gardner and his son to stay at their women’s shelter when they were homeless.

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Back from my future

Sets of my youth have completely changed. Waterside dwellings from the Hot Springs of my childhood and a 1973 Florida summer stay have been transformed from one-level cozy beach cottages to newer towering condos. When there have been drastic changes to a place rendering it barely identifiable, how does the life writer “go back” to earlier days? Traveling back from the future can be particularly difficult when you weren’t there to live through the major changes. Research can provide support we need.

Adirondack chair on beach. ©iStockphoto/Pelikanz

Adirondack chair on beach. ©iStockphoto/Pelikanz

1. Identify “the” expert. While a basic Internet search is handy, attempts at discovering things from decades ago online can be frustratingly disappointing. A search some time ago had yielded a postcard of the cottages where I lived, but little else. This time my search hit pay dirt. An “expert” had published a picture book on the place in 2013. If you are registered at Amazon and the book provides for searching, you can find more than what is displayed through the limited “look inside.” I found the woman who was our landlady and the first place I worked!

2. Research the expert. Once I had the name of an expert on the place, I searched for him online hoping at best to find an email address. What I found was a treasure trove! The writer is on staff at a local institution. Even better, he’s a speaker on the subject who has shared his talk materials online! Countless other visuals were immediately accessible!

3. Look for bibliographical sources. Top quality writers, like the expert I discovered, source the primary source materials (like photographs) they use. So, I was able to pinpoint other sources that might help my search. Your simple search engine search grows in fruitfulness when you find an expert that opens doors to materials buried in rich archival holdings.

Look for ways to dig deeper!