Passing It On

Bring me popcorn: It’s family history movie time!

I’m a big fan of family movies. Family history movies, that is.

For me it goes back to “Citizen Kane,” the Orson Welles epic about the life of a newspaper mogul told in a retrospective style as investigators try to solve the one lingering mystery of The Great Man’s final cryptic words: Who (or what) was Rosebud?

As I wrote before, I think the Tim Burton film, “Big Fish,” is the ultimate father-son movie. Although I try to watch this film every June, somehow it eluded me this year.

Now come a couple new must-sees in this genre: “Young at Heart” and “Google Me: The Movie.”

“Young at Heart” has been playing locally recently as fellow blogger Jann Freed notes. This story about a singing group of some thirty 80-somethings who cover everyone from The Clash to Coldplay, will be available on DVD in mid-September. I find it perfectly natural that music transcends the ages. It was a 20-something Paul Simon, after all, who wrote the memorable line “How terribly strange to be 70” in his poetic tribute to senior citizens, “Old Friends,” on Simon & Garfunkel’s classic “Bookends” album.

“Google Me” is a quirky extension of the practice of Googling one’s own name. Come on, everybody does it – a quick check of one’s cyberspace status. When Jim Killeen did it, he found 24 other Jim Killeens scattered around the planet. He tracked down as many as he could and six of them participated in this documentary, which is now available on DVD.

The best family movies, of course, are those of your own family. Now would be a good time to dig them out of their hiding place and give them a proper viewing. If you’re a generation or two behind the technology (film or videotape, for example), you might want to bring them up to date before the equipment necessary to play them disappears forever.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of    Firstposter.com Movie Posters Wall.

Who the ---- cares? You might be surprised.

One of the most common excuses I hear from people for not wanting to do their own family’s history is that nobody else cares.

In the case of Oscar Berliner, it was more like “Who the hell cares?”

Oscar, the crusty father of filmmaker Alan Berliner, persistently rebuffed his son’s attempts to document his father’s life. “What does it matter” … “I don’t care about the family tree.” These were what the elder Berliner told his just-as-persistent son in the 1996 documentary “Nobody’s Business.”

“I’m just an ordinary guy who’s lived an ordinary life. I went into the army, got married, raised a family, worked hard, had my own business. That’s all.”

This father-son clash that is at the heart of this fine film is all too familiar. That makes the findings of a recent survey by Ancestry.com all the more interesting.

The survey found that 83 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds are interested in learning their family history. That’s more than the 35 to 54-year-olds (77 percent) or the 55-plus group (73 percent).

Remember that during this holiday season. When a young family member asks you about your family history, give them what they want even though you may not share their enthusiasm. It’s literally the gift of a lifetime.

You can check out Alan Berliner’s touching eulogy to his father and learn more about his films here.

Speaking of the holidays, there’s a meme floating around with a theme similar to a Christmas advent card. There’s a prompt a day for collecting Christmas memories. Check it out here.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. If you’d like to know more, check out his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of  coda.

Birds: They're here, there, everywhere

Birds. Have you seen one lately? Although they’re just about everywhere, most of us take them for granted. They’re literally above our radar.

Here in Iowa, birdwatchers are all ga-ga this week about the recent sightings of two species of birds never before seen in the state – the fork-tailed flycatcher, which is native to South America, and the black-tailed gull, which is normally found in east Asia. I’m a real amateur at this birdwatching stuff, but I’ve counted 33 species in my suburban backyard since I put up some bird feeders four years ago. They’re fun to watch from our dining room table.

Birds enjoy special status in many cultures and you may have interesting bird-related stories in your own personal history. I know that my mother-in-law has used the term “eats like a bird” when referring to thin people and “wise as an owl” is considered a compliment. Remember comedian George Gobel’s tagline: “Well, I’ll be a dirty bird?” Remember “Chickenman?”

I grew up knowing people named Bird, Pigeon and Robbins, used soap named Dove and had a friend that drove a Thunderbird. The thunderbird, by the way, is a mythical creature revered by some Native American tribes. And the headdress worn by Indian chiefs in my childhood history books were festooned with eagle feathers.

The albatross was a bad sign for mariners, but the first robin of spring was considered a good omen by my gardening friends. Ravens have a dark purpose, according to some, but my duck-hunting relatives anticipated these migrating meals-on-wings each fall. Likewise the pheasant.

Lots of friends had caged parakeets when I was a kid. The documentary film “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” tells the fascinating story of what can happen when a bunch of pets find their way back into the wild. Alfred Hitchcock saw “The Birds” in a more sinister light.

How do birds figure in your family history? Here’s some information on bird folklore and superstitions to jog your memory a bit.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. If you’d like to know more, check out his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of Antoon's Foobar.

Michael Apted’s “49 Up” puts reality back into “reality television”

Thank you Michael Apted. And thank you PBS for bringing Apted’s seminal work in chronicling personal history to American audiences.

This week’s airing of Apted’s “49 Up” also revived the notion that true “reality television” can be riveting watching despite the shameless co-opting, distortion and exploitation of the term by America’s commercial TV panderers.

In case you missed it, PBS this week broadcast the latest in Apted’s long-running series of films chronicling the lives of several people from his native England who entered this world a half century ago. Since 1964, when the youth were 7 years old, Apted has tracked down the participants every seven years and filmed interviews with them, thus the “7 Up” name for the series.

At each juncture, Apted quizzes them about their life at the moment, what’s changed in the last seven years and what do they see in their future. Each resulting film is fascinating, peeling away the life stories of real people in their own words.

The “kids” are 49 now and their personal histories are littered with job loss, splintered relationships and shattered dreams. But there are stories of fulfillment, redemption, hope and promise as well. Some participants drop out for awhile and return. Some drop out and stay out.

In my legacy letter workshops, I attempt a similar exercise, asking participants to write about their best friends at various stages of their lives. Ironically, I use seven year intervals, beginning at age 7. Changes in our family life tend to occur gradually, almost seamlessly, making them difficult to detect. But, if you look at your life in intervals using a reference point outside the family, such as your best friend every seven years, the changes become more noticeable.

Try it. List your best friends at various stages of your life and write everything you remember about them – what you did together, what you learned from each other, what you wanted out of life at that time. You’ll have your own personal “7 Up” series.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of Mary Hockenbery (reddirtrose).

A tip o' the hat to all Harrys out there

Are you wild about Harry?

Harry Potter, that is. The countdown to the release of the final installment in the wildly successful book series is approaching the zero hour, as virtually anyone with a pulse is aware. I’ve never read a Harry Potter book and have seen just one of the films so I’ve managed to avoid being swept up in this latest round of hyper-hype.

But it did get me wondering: What about the real Harry Potter? I did some checking.

In an unscientific, non-exhaustive search, I learned that there is only one Harry Potter listed in phone directories in Iowa or its contiguous states. In addition to the Harry Potter in Omaha, there’s a Harold Potter right here in Iowa, in Sibley.

Although I have little interest in learning the fate of J.K. Rowling’s fictional Harry (whose life has been bared in some 325 million books so far), I’m more interested in the life stories of the actual Harry Potters. Or Harry Lehmer, my paternal grandfather. That’s just the personal historian in me, I guess. Although there’s always room for a little escapism and fantasy, reality trumps fiction for me just about every time.

What about you: Would you rather read the exploits of a carefully crafted fictional character or the real-life exploits of a person of interest?

Genealogy blogger extraordinaire Randy Seaver offers a reminder that, although the Internet has made genealogical research quick and easy, it is far from complete. To uncover the real gems in your family history project, you’ll likely have to go elsewhere, Randy points out.

Larry Lehmer is a personal biographer who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or e-mail him.

Flickr photo courtesy of Mom of 5 cuties.

If it's Father's Day, it must be Big Fish time

Father's Day is coming up this Sunday which means I’ll be getting together with family in Omaha to honor my father, Walter B. “Jack” Lehmer (pictured). It’s a time for reminiscing and sharing family stories over some freshly grilled Stoysich sausage, my famous Nut Tree potato salad and some icy beverages and root beer floats.

It’s also time for my annual viewing of “Big Fish,” the Tim Burton film that I regard as the ultimate father-son movie. For those of you unfamiliar with the story line, it revolves around the relationship between Edward Bloom (played by Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor) and his estranged son, Will (Billy Crudup).

Edward Bloom, a former traveling salesman and pompous purveyor of tall tales, is dying and his wife (Jessica Lange) summons Will, a journalist now living in Paris with his pregnant wife (Marion Cotillard). Edward and Will haven’t spoken in years because Will resents his dad’s flamboyant storytelling, which he views as pure fantasy.

Will just wants the truth; Edward insists his stories are the truth.

“We’re storytellers, both of us,” Edward tells Will. “I speak mine out; you write yours down. Same thing.”

To Will’s wife, Edward explains his storytelling style: “Most men, they’ll tell you stories straight out. It won’t be complicated, and it won’t be interesting, either.’

The film, which relates Edward’s life story in that surreal Burton style, deals with Will’s search for the truth of his father’s life. What he discovers and how he reconciles truth with fantasy is at the heart of the film’s masterful conclusion.

Every family’s story has elements of truth and fantasy. They’re both important in documenting a family legacy. Don’t ignore either one.

Little Miss Ultimate Gift

 

The Ultimate Gift, the movie, opens today across America.

The film's producers offered a sneak preview of the film last summer to personal historians and people in the financial services industry because of its message, which basically is that there's more to life than money.

That ties in well with the legacy letters and ethical wills that I offer through my company, When Words Matter. Ethical wills pass on a person's hopes and beliefs in much the same way a legal will passes on material goods.

Some may find the film preachy, simple and overly sentimental, but it makes its points clearly and dramatically. Plus, it has an appealing cast, including Abigail Breslin, last year's breakout child star in Little Miss Sunshine, a role that earned her an Academy Award nomination.

The film's producers also have unfurled a slick marketing campaign for the film, which is based on a popular book by the same name. On their website you can buy all manner of products, from charm bracelets to journals, check out clips from the film and much more.

Flickr photo of Abigail Breslin courtesy of LAKAN346.