Writing Memoir Essays

This is the third book in my Collected Didn't Work(s) series. This is all of the non-fiction I've written from 2000-2021. It includes essays, articles, and short memoirs. If you have read my books Ever Green Fly Fisher. The Nor Cal Crash Stories, or The Life I've Written you should be aware that much of the material in those books is in this collection as well.

Understanding humans and human nature is one of the toughest jobs. Many time what seems right and good or vice versa can be completely different if explored to proper depth. In many instances, we all form an opinion about the people we meet without actually knowing anything about them. But hearing and learning about such instances helps us to redefine our thought process and become wiser. Sudha Murty's book Wise and Otherwise will take you to a journey across the length and breadth of India through narrations of 51 stories inspired by the extensive travels of the author herself.

The greatest popular songs, whether it’s Aretha Franklin singing ‘Respect’ or Bob Dylan performing ‘Blind Willie McTell’, have a way of embedding themselves in our memories. You remember a time and a place and a feeling when you hear that song again. In Holding the Note, David Remnick writes about the lives and work of some of the greatest musicians, songwriters, and performers of the past fifty years.

It started as a simple journal exercise. Tom Sullivan wanted to list his top 10 favorite hunting, fishing, and climbing trips. Once completed, however, he noted something he found quite interesting. The majority of the excursions he noted didn't result in a harvest of fin or fur, nor did they remind him of any found and conquered summit. Instead, he had selected past trips where something remarkable had occurred and valuable lessons had been learned. This became the inspiration for his first collection of adventure essays.