What Does It Mean to have Published a Memoir?

What’s it like to have the opportunity to share a portion of your life with any reader? Three memoirists discuss how it feels to have translated a chunk of their lives into the form of a book. It seems literary, but it’s really an activity of finding and sharing yourself through writing.

Melba Tolliver is the author of Accidental Anchorwoman: A Memoir of Chance, Choice, Change, and Connection (2024). Andy Laties is the author of Rebel Bookseller: Why Indie Businesses Represent Everything You Want to Fight For (2011). Jerry Waxler is the author of How I Learned To Love The World: My Epic Journey from Solving Equations to Healing Hearts Through Writing, Therapy, and Memoirs (2024).

In 1967, by accident, Melba Tolliver was the first Black American to anchor network news. Famously, her insistence on wearing her hair in an Afro when covering the White House wedding of Tricia Nixon earned retaliation from the ABC bosses. In her memoir Accidental Anchorwoman, reporting with wit and humor from her ninth decade, Melba shares provocative thoughts about civil rights, the women’s movement, identity, and journalistic objectivity.

Andy Laties is the co-founder and director of Easton Book Festival, and also co-owner of Book & Puppet Company. Andy has created seven bookselling companies in the past 35 years.

As a speaker, teacher, and coach in and around the Lehigh Valley, Jerry Waxler shows people how (and why!) to convert memories into stories. First he helps people understand the power of life stories. Then he teaches a step by step method to overcome hurdles and find your unique story.