So many people only realise what’s missing when someone’s gone: the stories that never got written down, the context behind the photos, the small truths that make a life feel fully known. In the following testimonial, LifeBook author Ivan Selin explains why his children encouraged him to capture his story while he could still enjoy it and how the LifeBook Memoirs process made what felt overwhelming suddenly manageable. He reflects on the value of expert guidance, a light-touch approach that preserves the author’s voice and the satisfaction of holding a finished book that his family can read, keep and pass on.
Here’s what Ivan had to say about his journey with LifeBook Memoirs:
Many families mourn the loss of a beloved member and fervently wish that he or she had left them more information about themselves. My own children were determined that this would not happen, and I was in full agreement that we should prevent this complete loss. The challenge, however, is that it is almost impossible to sit down and write your own personal history without professional help, and the task of converting that history into an accessible, stable form is even more daunting. What many people don’t appreciate is that the senior would also like to see his or her story recorded in concrete form while they are still able to enjoy it.
So, when my daughter and son proposed engaging LifeBook Memoirs to draw out my story and put it into a stable, accessible format, I was thrilled. Now that I have gone through their process, I am doubly thrilled. LifeBook Memoirs gave me what I really needed:
- an interviewer who gently kept me on track as I recounted my story, acting as a mediator, not as a coauthor (his light fingerprints are nowhere to be found in the final product),
- someone able to develop my transcripts into readable text,
- an editor to help me polish that text into a manuscript, written in my own voice, that I’m proud of, and
- production staff who turned the draft book into a beautiful final product, all working under a very helpful and effective project manager.
Together, they were able to guide me into producing this book within an acceptable timeframe – essential, since if the workload had been unreasonable, I would not have been able to see it through.
Now that my book is finished, my family and even some of my friends are delighted to have the opportunity to read this book. And so am I!
Ivan’s LifeBook experience also reflects something we see time and again at LifeBook Memoirs: the work can create real, lasting connections and bonds. Soon after his LifeBook project wrapped, Ivan and his ghostwriter, Kelly, met up for lunch – a simple but telling reminder that life stories don’t just preserve connections within families; they can build new ones too.
Ivan completed his LifeBook, A Remarkable Journey, 1937–??, in 2025.
