King’s student Ryan Lum uses a recorder and notebook to keep up with Barbara Hinds’ stories. Photo: Paula Bugden

Putting the past on paper: King’s has new memoir project

Barbara Hinds is retired after 33 years as a writer for the Chronicle Herald, but she still tells stories. Now she's getting the chance to answer questions instead of ask them.

The King's Memoir Project is a first for the University of King's College and fourth-year students Christina Turner and Emma Hanes are making it happen.

Roughly 25 students turned out for an organizing meeting in September, and the student writers have been paired with people at The Berkeley, a retirement community in Halifax.

Students will interview for their Berkeley partners this fall and prepare memoirs.

Hinds, an 85-year-old living at The Berkeley, says many residents are shy about telling their stories. She's not one of them, and recalls her career working as a court reporter and writer of social events.

As a young journalist, Hinds admits she liked adventure and even visited the eastern Arctic, while sending her travel stories back to the Herald.

While some residents are happy to share stories, she says, others have trouble remembering. She thinks that's going to be a challenge for some student writers.

Hinds hopes they do their research and says a simple list of background questions is a good idea.

"A lot of people just don't know much about themselves," she says. "Once you start breaking the ice - it's essential to develop a good rapport when you start."

It's not hard for Hanes to recognize the project's appeal. She says most student societies at King's don't go beyond their own age group - but this one does.

"You get to learn a great deal about a past that's not often told," she says. "It's a project that kind of values and affirms those small histories."

The two organizers say they'd like to make an anthology of the memoirs and put it online. Hanes says they're also calling publishing companies and looking into funding.

Students weren't the only ones recruited for the project.

Contemporary Studies professor Sarah Clift teaches a class about memory at King's. After learning about the project, she signed up. She's also helping the other students with their memoir writing. For her, the most interesting part is the interviewing process.

"There's a great deal of responsibility that goes along with that," she says. "One has to be really responsive, open and be able to listen."

The memoir project has its challenges, but Paige Sisley is willing to try. As a fourth-year English student, she says she likes creative writing.

And writing about someone else's experiences means taking a new approach. She says it's challenging but is still looking forward to asking questions.

Meanwhile, Hinds says there are plenty of stories at The Berkeley.

"There's some sweet characters here. There really are."

Comments on this story are now closed