A family reunion is a memoir writer’s dream resource. This is primary research on a grand scale.
Imagine a collection of all the significant people in your extended family and their partners, wanting to get together simply to share stories. Okay, yes, they’ll want to party as well. You should probably consider going into marathon training before such an event to make sure you have the stamina required to cope with all the information, connections and stories you will encounter.
You will definitely want to prepare questions, and learn to use a video camera or tape recorder. Scribble notes at the speed of light of who has what resources in terms of documents, photos or written materials you may want to consult.
If you are organizing such an event make sure there are story telling corners/venues where people can gather and share what they know. With permission, record these sessions.
If there isn’t already an extensive family tree, have a family tree roughed out on large poster board and encourage people to add missing names and dates to it.
Above all, connect with others in the group who are also writing personal or family memoirs, as there are sure to be several.
Do you have experience of a family reunion? How did you, or will you use what you learned in your own memoir?