Page 38 - Storytelling - Storylistening

X. Publish or Perish: “I, Witness to History” Preserves Residents’ Life Stories in Race with Final Deadline
“Every time an old person dies, it is as if a library had burned down.”
– Alex Haley, author of Roots
With the holidays fast approaching, Terry Asla and crew at I, Witness to History (IWH) raced against the ultimate deadline.
They had promised to publish books on the life stories of four residents at Larksfield Place Retirement Community in Wichita, KS, by Christmas. Then out of the blue, a fifth resident was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and only weeks to live. The man’s last wish, his daughter said, was to read his life story to his grandchildren on Christmas day.
Before his diagnosis, the man started telling IWH his story, but stopped. Now, finishing it was all that mattered. A community effort ensued. The other residents agreed to delay their stories as IWH codirectors Asla and
Rita Pearce ran the organization’s desktop publishing operation at full throttle. Larksfield Place office staff volunteered to proof the manuscript while members of the dying man’s family revised text and identified photos.
Two days before Christmas, a weary IWH team handed a neatly bound book to the emaciated but smiling resident.
“It was one of the most rewarding moments of my life,” Asla recalls. “We go through life doing our jobs and never knowing if it makes a difference. In this case, it did.”
The man died shortly after Christmas, but not before satisfying his last wish. According to his daughter, he was first out of bed on Christmas morning and much like his old self as he read to his grandchildren the story of his life, captured for generations to come between the covers of a book.
Porch Swing SeriesTM Culture Change Workbooks ©Action Pact, Inc.2005-2006 p.34