Oral Histories

Bruce Wood will spend time visiting with you to learn a little about the interesting life you've led. And it has been an interesting life. Bruce was a big fan of Charles Kuralt and like Kuralt, he believes everyone has a good story to tell if only they are given the chance.

At the end of the first visit Bruce will share a few special ways to shake the rust off your old memories and set up a second visit a week or two later to lead you through your life story. A recorder will be going this time, but you won't notice. Promise. That's because instead of an interview, the recorder will be preserving a conversation between new friends. (Note: Bruce can also record over the telephone and thanks to modern technology, the sound quality will be terrific.)

Using state-of-the-art computer programs, the recording will be edited so that starts and stops, coughs, extraneous conversations and whatever else you may want removed is taken out. If you'd like, an introductory song of your choice will begin the final recording with your voice coming on as the music slowly fades out. That same song - or another favorite - will fade in at the end of your story.

You'll be amazed at how much ground can be covered in  a 74-minute CD. If you'd like, however, a longer conversation can be collected on two or more CDs.

The final product will be a CD featuring numerous several-minute  tracks that allow listeners to easily navigate to that favorite story or anecdote.

Your life story CD will be delivered in a jewel case with a liner featuring information about each of the tracks as well as a photograph or artwork of your choosing.

How Much Does It Cost?

The stock answer would be, “Not nearly as much as it is worth.” The price is determined by the distance Bruce has to travel, the number of visits he makes, the length of the oral history and the number of CDs you want burned.

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Remember When? is your chance to make sure those stories will be cherished by your children, your children’s children and their children to come.

Award-winning journalist Bruce Wood will gently ask the right questions and work hard to make sure your story is told just the way you want, whether in the form of a book or a digitally mastered CD featuring your voice telling your story.

Memory Books

In addition to oral histories, Bruce Wood can produce a hard-bound book telling your life history.

Each individually designed 8x11 volume will include a selection of photographs (black and white or color) as well as other graphic elements that help tell your story.

From the initial "conversation" to the finished product, Bruce Wood will handle it all and deliver a treasured keepsake.

Slide Shows

Another way to share your story is with a DVD  slide show created from your old photographs. Using computer technology, Bruce Wood will scan in your pictures, fix minor blemishes and renew faded or torn snapshots.

He will then add music, titles, transitions and "movement" to still pictures to bring life to the DVD, which can be played on computers or TV sets.

Note from Bruce When I first talked with friends and acquaintances about starting Remember When? I heard the same thought over and over again and quickly knew I was on to something. What did people say? "I wish I knew more about my parents' and grandparents' lives."

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Our family mementoes include a handwritten letter from an ancestor about serving under Kit Carson in California in the mid-1800's. I wish my grandfather had shared with us what he knew about the stories he had heard. Unfortunately, apart from the letter, those stories are lost.

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In doing these projects I've found that people will open up and share stories with me that, for one reason or another, they may never have told their own families. It helps that as a journalist who has done thousands of interviews over the years I've learned when to ask follow-up questions ... and when to stop talking.

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I'm biased, of course, but I can't think of a better gift to present your parents than the chance to give their stories back to you and their grandchildren in the form of an oral history (or a bound volume or DVD slide show).

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If you are a grandparent struggling to come up with that perfect gift, a Remember When? project will be treasured not only by your grandchilden, but by their grandchildren.