Completed Stories

To give you a flavor of the life stories we've done,
we have selected a few completed books to display.

We extend thanks to the people who shared their lives with us.
What a privilege it has been!

Seventh and youngest child in a close family, this is the touching and flavorful story of growing up in a mill town in the West Virginia mountains, where the chief entertainment for children was finding nickels beneath the wooden sidewalks, singing and potlucks, and going to funerals to look at the dear departed.

    "You've been a real blessing to me! I'm positively inspired to keep working on the NEXT volume of my life!"

Family 1939-1953, by Billie Vincent.

In this book, Billie describes, with great humor and zest, her married life with Tad, the adventures of raising five children during the war years, moving from Washington D.C. to Detroit to Philadelphia to Brooklyn to Alabama to Levittown to Brooklyn (again) to California to follow her labor-union-organizer husband, putting her progressive principles in action, and the start of her innovative career in teaching.  (See Room 5, The Joy of Becoming, described below.)

A hand-made wedding ring quilt (see cover of book) was a gift that has been treasured all the decades of Tad's and Billie's life together.

    "What a great feeling of release to share my journal writings in this beautiful form.  Can you print 20 more copies? Everyone in the family wants one!"

Of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, this bright and spunky girl from Chicago's West Side grew up to teach pre-school, work with autistic children, raise a family and travel to more than fifty countries.

These are the chock-full memoirs of a gifted crusader who helped to end segregation in New Orleans' schools, entertained visiting foreign diplomats, tried river-rafting and roller skating and enjoyed years of bucolic life in New Zealand before returning to the U.S. to be near her grandchildren.

 From Shiffy: "The actual telling of my story was fun and activated my brain.  I have given copies of my book to my children, grandchildren, and a few close friends.  The local library asked for a copy, saying,
'We like to have manuscripts from all our local authors.'
    "Occasionally, I re-read bits of it and still find it interesting and refreshing.  The Storehouse Collection of Memories made my book possible—I never would (or could) have done it by myself!"

Looking Back, by Janet Mustin.

Love for family and artistic expression grace the pages of this reflective and appreciative life story.  From a sheltered background in small-town Indiana through five years in Heidelberg during the 1960s to working with psychiatric patients, Janet's emergence as an artist mirrored her spiritual growth.  The photos of people, places, and paintings bring a special beauty to her book.

    "Looking Back has filled a real need for me, kind of like a baby. I keep re-reading bits of it and feeling happy that it has been born, all thanks to you!"

This Latvian refugee escaped Bolsheviks (as well as Allied bombs) in both World Wars, married her sweetheart, gained enormous wealth from her husband's family's shipping business, lost all that wealth during the war, and forged a new life for herself and her family in the welcoming safety of the United States.

Ingrid did everything to make ends meet—she sold her jewelry, waited tables at a Catholic College in New York, raised chickens in Oregon, cooked on a fishing boat in Alaska, and ran a motel in Washington.  Her delicious red caviar was the talk of the town!

Our Story, by Hal and Ann Cope.

The experiences of two dedicated and adventurous Quakers are remembered here, strong on family life, hard work, service to others, and laughter.

Our Story is Hal's story and Ann's story, and the story of their long life together, starting with civilian public service camps and developing into college administration, raising a family and acres of Christmas trees, and conference planning in Kenya.  Shining throughout their lives has been their deep and well-tested faith.

"We are so very pleased with Our Story, and our children and friends treasure it.  What a blessing to have done it while Hal was still well!"

Reflecting primarily on her early years, Family Legacies is a tribute to the author's father as well as the story of growing up determined to help put things right in the world.

Marian's motivation for doing this book was to make sure her children and grandchildren could know and appreciate her father's strength of character, quality of life, and expression of values that shaped the family during the years of the Depression and the start of World War II.

    "You don't know how really happy we are to have...our story completed!  And it is all we'd hoped for...we have you to thank!"

Room 5—The Joy of Becoming
by Billie Vincent.

This chronicle is filled with endearing vignettes of a creative learning community during two fascinating years in a progressive public school in California in the 1970s.

What a wonderful world it would be if all children could know the acceptance, nurturing, and exciting explorations these five-to-eight year olds experienced as they learned to experiment, discover, and trust their own and each other's inquiring minds and growing spirits.

Room 5 includes many sensitive photos of the children by the gifted author/teacher.

   "How did you do it? It's gorgeous!"