On memoir, memory, and the craft of writing a life down.
Essays from the editors of Legacy & Quill. New writing every two weeks. For families weighing whether to commission a book — and for the curious.
- Coming soon·6 min read
Three questions you should have asked your grandfather.
And one that you still can. A short essay on the conversations families regret missing — and the simple frame that opens them.
- Coming soon·8 min read
What to give the person who has everything (and has lived everything).
Why a printed memoir has become the milestone gift of choice for affluent American families — and what to commission, when.
- Coming soon·9 min read
Writing around the hard years.
How a good memoir handles loss, war, addiction, and estrangement — without flinching, and without sensationalizing.
- Coming soon·7 min read
What counts as a real source for a family history.
On letters, photographs, military records, parish books, naturalization papers, and the quiet authority of a grocery receipt.
- Coming soon·10 min read
How to interview an aging parent without making them tired.
A practical guide to the cadence of memory work — for families who want to start before commissioning a book.
- Coming soon·7 min read
The book you can still make after the funeral.
A Tribute Book is built from family memory, photographs, and the documents that survive. Here is what is possible — and what is not.