Advice From Professional Interviewers
The Life Review Interview kit allows professionals to help families pass on their stories before it is too late.
 Want to create a family legacy by documenting family stories? We think you should know about a do-it-yourself kit entitled "From Generation . . . to Generation." Available for $25, it was written by two women who prepare and conduct one-and-a-half hour personal-history interviews in the Los Angeles area, retain a professional videographer to record them, and present families with copies, which can be edited to include personal photographs and music.
The kit includes Life Review Interview Questions for a short-format interview, as well as questions for a much longer interview. I believe the forty-page interview manual and a thirty-minute audio tape can help you produce an excellent and permanent audio or video recording of your family history by giving you equipment requirements ("We prefer the sixty-minute tape."), fashion tips ("A dress with a busy pattern will not photograph well."), and interviewing techniques ("Do not interrupt. Listen.")
The manual stresses advance preparation for both descriptive and historical information. This offers the person being interviewed the opportunity to suggest additional information or memories he or she would like to talk about during the interview. Some people will need assistance remembering names, places and dates and another family member may be needed to help fill out the questionnaire. The authors recommend that you allow yourself enough time to prepare the interview questions but that you do not set the date too far in the future. They want the interviewee to retain interest and excitement about the interview.
The background of the two women who created Life Stories/A Video Legacy gives them valued experience.
Phyllis Massing perfected her interviewing skills during eighteen years of clinical social work with individuals, families and groups. She received M.S.W. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Southern California and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the USC School of Social Work and Clinical Director at the VBS Counseling Center in Encino, California. Dr. Massing was the principal interviewer for the Late-Timing Parent Project and has produced numerous oral and video biographies.
E. Rhoda Lewis received a B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles. She has studied oral history in the Graduate School of History at California State University, Northridge. Ms. Lewis has interviewed prominent leaders in the San Fernando Valley and has been an Oral History interviewer for the JHS Historical Society/Boyle Heights Project.
For more information, contact LIFE STORIES/A Video Legacy, P.O. Box 260436, Encino, CA 91426, (818) 995-3315, e-mail: Lifestories99@aol.com. |
