Legacies

Donna Seaman

More than 6,000 Americans age 60 and above responded to a writing contest sponsored by the Jewish Association of Services for the Aged two years ago. The contest invited participants to "share your past with the future by telling stories about your life," an opportunity people from all across the country and from every race, religion, and class embraced with ready enthusiasm and, judging by these 100 or so "best of" selections, an impressive level of literary finesse. These brief, animated stories gleam like pebbles in a stream or fresh fruit in sunlight. Perhaps they've been polished by so many retellings or quiet musings, or, perhaps, the perspective of time has distilled them down to the essentials that make good stories: desire, fear, foolishness, and enlightenment. These are Depression-era stories of life without plumbing or electricity in locations as diverse as freezing New York tenements or a small sun-bleached house in the Ozarks. The editors have grouped these bright memories into chapters titled "Childhood," "Mom and Dad," "Grandma and Grandpa," "War and Remembrance," "Heroes and Friends," and "Passages," fashioning a rejuvenating volume full of humor and wisdom.