Writing Workshop: It’s a Wonderful Life: How Have You Affected the Lives of Others – ROEN
In the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey (played my Jimmy Stewart) is so overwhelmed by problems in his life that he wishes that he had never been born. In the next section of the film, he learns what life would have been like if he had not been born, and he comes to appreciate the positive—and even lifesaving—effect he has had on the lives of family and friends. In this workshop we will write about how the lives of our family and friends would be different if each of us had not been born (so please bring paper and pen or a laptop).
Duane Roen has been tracing his roots since his teenage years, building a database with more than 32,000 ancestors. He and his wife, Maureen Roen, have also been recording their family history since 1978 by writing more than 19,000 daily journal entries on their children and other family members. Combining his professional and personal interests, Duane worked with colleagues to establish courses on writing and recording family history at Arizona State University. He also is founding coordinator of the Project for Writing and Recording Family History in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at ASU.