Peggy! Here you are, in Sari's fabulous Oldster, where you belong. Many congratulations on taking this book all around the world. (And can't wait to join your book club later this summer.)
Beth, thank you for these kindest of words, and for introducing me to Sari Botton and Oldster and, like all great teachers, showing me the way and then leaving me, trusting me to figure it out for myself. As for your presence at our book club, everyone is getting psyched. It's going to be awesome.
Excellent strategy. My library uses Libby-- and I just found your book there. Yay! Readers should be sure to ask their local libraries for titles of books they'd like to listen to but that aren't (yet) available. It supports all your favorite (and especially independent) writers.
This is such a moving reflection. I’m struck by how beautifully Margaret describes writing as both an act of love and a path to healing. It resonates deeply with me. The writing process can so often mirror the process of rebuilding—piece by piece, sentence by sentence—until what felt shattered begins to take shape again. I feel like writing not only helps us withstand the unthinkable, it becomes a testament to our resilience and our capacity to keep going. Thank you for sharing this tender truth.
Hi Fanen! I am so deeply moved by your response to my questionnaire and deep understanding of what we both know is the redemptive power of writing. Thank you for the gift of your comment. My heart just got a little fuller. Peggy
Can't wait to read your book, Margaret. Every time I want to read a new book, I ask my rural public library to buy it. They almost always do. And then other readers in our county get to read it too, so I feel I'm introducing new writers. Thanks for sharing all this!
Kirie, God bless our public libraries. Can you imagine life without them? Perhaps your wonderful library would like to offer my audiobook recording. Library patrons can listen for free on Hoopla. Here's the link: https://www.hoopladigital.com/audiobook/and-always-one-more-time-a-memoir-margaret-mandell/16802337 Thank you, Kirie, for spreading the pollen of good books (hope to be one of them) from flower to flower like a honeybee.
I'm going to let the library know about the audiobook recording too. Love the pollen image! Some of my first childhood memories are trips to the library, old funky libraries at the time that had a certain smell. And we'd all come home laden with books, sit around our little house (eight of us!) and read, sometimes out loud. Yes. Joy.
Kirie, you are making me remember the SMELL of every library I've been in. As a small child and as a graduate student. I swear I can conjure up the smell. What is it about the smell of books that seeps into the walls of libraries? Dust? Mildew? The paper? The binding? Glue? Leather? Decomposition? Darkness? Airlessness? The dreams of every writer?
In graduate school, add cigarette smoke. Yes, students could smoke in the "stacks." When I was little, it was something far more magic. Everything you say.
Oh Abby, Safekeeping was the first memoir I ever read the day I decided to take my 1,000 love letters to my dead husband and make them into "something." My wise writing teacher said, put those letters aside for now and read the best memoirs you can find. Begin with Safekeeping. I drank it in with a thirst I didn't know I had. Answering Sari's question about inspiration, being able to utter your name in the same breath with Beth and Margaret, felt like a sisterhood. The one I am always searching for, trundling through life as I do with my four brothers, not a sister in sight. So I conjured you, never expecting that you and Beth would actually read this and say something so very kind. My heart be still.
Dear "familiar strangers": Thank you so much for reading my book. Might I see a review from you some day on my Amazon site? How will I know it's you? With appreciation, Peggy
And I might add Margaret did a wonderful job of narrating her own audiobook—I love her voice, both on the page and in the ears. (Full disclosure, I am proud to say I was her producer!)
Peggy! Here you are, in Sari's fabulous Oldster, where you belong. Many congratulations on taking this book all around the world. (And can't wait to join your book club later this summer.)
Beth, thank you for these kindest of words, and for introducing me to Sari Botton and Oldster and, like all great teachers, showing me the way and then leaving me, trusting me to figure it out for myself. As for your presence at our book club, everyone is getting psyched. It's going to be awesome.
<3
Excellent strategy. My library uses Libby-- and I just found your book there. Yay! Readers should be sure to ask their local libraries for titles of books they'd like to listen to but that aren't (yet) available. It supports all your favorite (and especially independent) writers.
This is such a moving reflection. I’m struck by how beautifully Margaret describes writing as both an act of love and a path to healing. It resonates deeply with me. The writing process can so often mirror the process of rebuilding—piece by piece, sentence by sentence—until what felt shattered begins to take shape again. I feel like writing not only helps us withstand the unthinkable, it becomes a testament to our resilience and our capacity to keep going. Thank you for sharing this tender truth.
Hi Fanen! I am so deeply moved by your response to my questionnaire and deep understanding of what we both know is the redemptive power of writing. Thank you for the gift of your comment. My heart just got a little fuller. Peggy
You’re most welcome. 🙏🏾 Writing is also one of the most powerful ways to connect.
Can't wait to read your book, Margaret. Every time I want to read a new book, I ask my rural public library to buy it. They almost always do. And then other readers in our county get to read it too, so I feel I'm introducing new writers. Thanks for sharing all this!
Kirie, God bless our public libraries. Can you imagine life without them? Perhaps your wonderful library would like to offer my audiobook recording. Library patrons can listen for free on Hoopla. Here's the link: https://www.hoopladigital.com/audiobook/and-always-one-more-time-a-memoir-margaret-mandell/16802337 Thank you, Kirie, for spreading the pollen of good books (hope to be one of them) from flower to flower like a honeybee.
I'm going to let the library know about the audiobook recording too. Love the pollen image! Some of my first childhood memories are trips to the library, old funky libraries at the time that had a certain smell. And we'd all come home laden with books, sit around our little house (eight of us!) and read, sometimes out loud. Yes. Joy.
Kirie, you are making me remember the SMELL of every library I've been in. As a small child and as a graduate student. I swear I can conjure up the smell. What is it about the smell of books that seeps into the walls of libraries? Dust? Mildew? The paper? The binding? Glue? Leather? Decomposition? Darkness? Airlessness? The dreams of every writer?
In graduate school, add cigarette smoke. Yes, students could smoke in the "stacks." When I was little, it was something far more magic. Everything you say.
Honored the be in the same small group as Beth Kephart, and Margaret Renkl Thank you very much.
Oh Abby, Safekeeping was the first memoir I ever read the day I decided to take my 1,000 love letters to my dead husband and make them into "something." My wise writing teacher said, put those letters aside for now and read the best memoirs you can find. Begin with Safekeeping. I drank it in with a thirst I didn't know I had. Answering Sari's question about inspiration, being able to utter your name in the same breath with Beth and Margaret, felt like a sisterhood. The one I am always searching for, trundling through life as I do with my four brothers, not a sister in sight. So I conjured you, never expecting that you and Beth would actually read this and say something so very kind. My heart be still.
❤️
Great interview. Thanks Sari. Thanks Margaret. I’m looking forward to reading your book.
Dear "familiar strangers": Thank you so much for reading my book. Might I see a review from you some day on my Amazon site? How will I know it's you? With appreciation, Peggy
And I might add Margaret did a wonderful job of narrating her own audiobook—I love her voice, both on the page and in the ears. (Full disclosure, I am proud to say I was her producer!)
Couldn't have done it without you, Michelle, my beloved sound muse. Lately I've been working with local public libraries, trying to encourage them to offer the audiobook to patrons via Hoopla: https://www.hoopladigital.com/audiobook/and-always-one-more-time-a-memoir-margaret-mandell/16802337