A Change in Direction
Over the past two years my writing journey has taken me in a surprising new direction. I am now writing biographies and family histories for Life Stories. While it’s a deviation from fiction to fact, I relish using both my interest in history and my creative skills to capture the essence of each unique story to craft lasting memories. I am now working on my fourth project and just like my very first assignment, the rewards are found in the most unexpected places.
Hand delivering my very first ‘Life Story’ book to Kathryn Jones, felt momentous. I first met Kath and her father Ken Jones, in May 2021. Ken had just turned ninety and wanted to document his family history. His memory was razor sharp and his wit dry. Often he surprised himself where his stories led him and I feel incredibly privileged to have had the opportunity to write his story.
Ken was a delight to interview. My role was to listen but our conversations were never one-sided. At heart Ken was inquisitive, a people-person who also thrived on the stories of others. Ken believed in hard work to make luck happen. His family story navigated pioneer times, two world wars, two pandemics, the Depression, post-war recovery and the IT revolution. With his nose for a canny deal, over the years Ken took what chance gave him and shaped it into his own slice of history.
During our time together Ken reiterated the importance of family, how perseverance and hard work pay dividends and that gut-feel armed with a touch of humour can take you a very long way. And wow! I had no idea what a gem of a story I had signed up for: ancestors who discovered gold mines; made first ascents of Mt Taranaki; were early administrators of the Waikato/Taranaki dairy industry; and were forerunners of taming the Hauraki Plains peat swamp into prosperous farmland - land that is still nurtured by the Jones family and was awarded century farm status in 2017. Sadly Ken passed away in October 2021 but we were able to capture his story and that of his family for future generations. This feels incredibly rewarding.
I will never forget Ken – my very first Life Stories client – with his distinctive ambling gait and kind, bright blue eyes. He was a determined business man and yet offering his index and forefinger for a greedy calf was second nature. Just before he died, Ken organised for the planting of 200 daffodil bulbs along a Hauraki Plains roadside. It was uncanny that on the day I celebrated holding Ken’s completed book I had picked the very first daffodil from my own garden. RIP Ken Jones.
