 "My goal here today is for you to leave here with at least one idea you can take home and use immediately to preserve your heirlooms or keepsakes."
Denise Levenick, my fellow columnist in the award-winning Shades of the Departed digital magazine, made this declaration {or, rather, one very similar to it as I failed to write it down verbatim} in the introduction of her presentation at the Southern California Genealogical Society's annual Jamboree conference last year. And? I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, I'd spoken with Denise both in person and online numerous times, but I had never heard her speak in presentation mode. She rocked that room {Okay, tent because we were in the additional space outside the conference hall.} that day displaying her brilliant expertise in archival methods and practical suggestions for everyone. And I really mean everyone. You didn't have to be a genealogist or family historian to have learned something from her that day. However, I am a genealogist and family historian, and I definitely left her presentation that day with a ton of great and practical ideas for preserving and sharing my family's keepsakes. Likewise, after reading her book, How to Archive Family Keepsakes, I have to say she rocks it in her book as well. {Minus all the noise in said extra tents.} As with her presentation, while reading Denise's book, you can tell she is in her element sharing with you ways to physically and digitally preserve documents, photos, and heirlooms. In fact, in reading her book you can tell it is her passion, which is always awesome. As a writer, I know what it's like to write about something you're not specifically passionate for, yet you write it because it needs to be done. And I know what it's like to write something that I am passionate about. Those writings are always so much better to write and to read because passion is invigorating, motivating, and contagious for both the writer and the reader. And after reading Denise's new book, I definitely have 'caught' the preservation bug. Truth be told, while I share her passion of ephemera, my passion tends to lean more towards the story-finding and story-telling of the object or document than the actual archiving. So, it's really a small miracle that Denise has infected me with her passion for archiving. With her simple how-to's, checklists, and forms, when you purchase Denise's book {Not if. I'm that confident you will purchase this book.}, you will not only be motivated to preserve your family's keepsakes, but you will have the tools to go through that box {Or if you're like me, boxes} of your family's 'stuff' you have tucked away in that closet in your guest bedroom that you keep telling yourself you need to go through and do 'something' with. Moreover, what I really appreciate is how Denise writes her tips and suggestions in How to Archive Family Keepsakes. She gives you many options in her preservation suggestions, and she does so in a way that makes you feel like she's right next to you sharing her knowledge. And I can say this truthfully because we've sat together at conferences in the hotel lobbies talking and looking at old photos on her iPad. We've broken bread together at numerous breakfasts, lunches, and dinners at those same conferences. While waiting for our flights last year after Jamboree, we talked in a crowded airport terminal about ephemera. {The terminal was so crowded, I was sitting on the floor at the feet of both Denise, the Family Curator, and footnoteMaven talking about ephemera and looking at their finds from a local antique store. You are jealous. Heck, I'm even jealous of me. I wish I was there talking to them now about ephemera.} Therefore, I can truly say when you read her book, you will feel like she's right there showing you how to preserve your family's history. Finally, when you get to the end of her book and you close the back cover or when you return to your digital library on your e-reader or tablet, you will, indeed, do so knowing way more about digitally and physically preserving your family's precious history than just 'one thing'. You'll be invigorated and motivated to get it done, and, more importantly, you'll have the tools to get it done. And I'll even wager you'll have 'caught' some of her passion for it. Like I did. So what are you waiting for? Even if you aren't a genealogist or family historian, if you've inherited a box of your family's 'stuff', you should grab Denise's book today and learn how to preserve all those memories for many, many years to come. Wait! There's more. As part of her How To Archive Family Keepsakes Blog Book Tour, next Monday, Denise will be making a 'stop' right here on 4YourFamilyHistory.com to share an excerpt from her book. And? If you make a comment on my blog post with her excerpt, then you get a chance to win something awesome. {In fact, I'm pretty jealous of you. I'd like to win this.} Get this. Denise has teamed up with The Practical Archivist, Sally Jacobs, to offer two great archival kits and copies of How to Archive Your Family's Keepsakes to the lucky winners. One name will be drawn on Saturday, 19 January 2013 and a second name selected on Saturday, 26 January 2013 to win the archival kits. Runners up can win free print or digital PDF copies of her book. My suggestion would be to buy a copy of her book and comment on the blog post for a chance to win an archival kit. Best case scenario? You own the book and an archival kit {and you make me jealous. ;) }. Another best case scenario? You own 2 copies of the book - one for you and one for you to give to someone else who has a box of 'stuff' they need help preserving. {Personally, I am buying 2 copies to donate to my local library's genealogy department as well as my genealogical society's library.} The other best case scenario? You own the book with the tools to help you preserve your family's history. It's a 'win' no matter what. Also, I just wanted to add that a portion of the proceeds of this book's sales goes towards helping to fund the 2013 Student Genealogy Grant founded in 2010 in honor of Denise’s mother, Suzanne Winsor Freeman. I personally know last year's very worthy recipients of this award, Elyse Doerflinger and A.C. Ivory, and the genuinely surprised and thankful looks on their faces when they found out they'd won was priceless. {See, I told you it's a 'win' no matter what.}
~Caroline {Disclosure: I received a PDF copy of How to Archive Family Keepsakes from Denise to review. My review is my honest opinion of her book. While I am an affiliate of Amazon, the link to purchase her book is Denise's link and not mine.}
2 Comments
Caroline Pointer
1/11/2013 04:28:59 am
Cheri, Leave a Reply. |
|
© Copyright For Your Family Story 2016 - All Rights Reserved
|