May 7, 2007

I toiled as a reporter for ten years. I worked as an editor for nine years. I’ve run my own personal history business for seven years. And, starting today, I’m trying my hand at writing a column.

Eons ago, I wrote a ski column for The Daily News in Longview during my young, single days when I could afford to ski. Now I’m an older mom with little excess money or energy beyond what I give to my two children—my 12-year-old son and almost 6-year-old daughter.

What I’d like to highlight in this column are the people, places, events and goings-on in Lewis County. I have a particular fondness for veterans: I see the Veterans Memorial Museum as a jewel in our midst. We have tiles on the Wall of Honor—for my mother’s uncle, who served in France during WWI, and for my mom’s brothers who served in WWII, one aboard a Navy ship in the South Pacific and the other flying P-51s over the hump of China. My father served in Korea. My husband served in Vietnam.

I am so grateful for the sacrifices brave men and women have made to secure the freedoms we enjoy. I’m not a warmonger, but I believe in defending the American way of life when it’s threatened. I’m a fan of the Veterans Memorial Museum’s motto—they shall not be forgotten.

Born in Iowa and raised in Colorado, I graduated from high school in Vancouver, Wash., and four years later left the University of Washington with a degree in communications and political science. I worked as a reporter for The Lewis River News and Kalama Bulletin (1983 to 1984), The Chronicle (from 1984 to 1987) and The Daily News, where I later accepted a position as assistant city editor (1987 to 2000).

During the early 1990s, while working as a journalist, I decided I wanted to preserve my parents’ stories for my children—if and when I ever had them. Using a huge camcorder on a tripod, I interviewed my father and then my mother about their lives. In 1993, my mother and I traveled through Europe; I later transcribed our trip journals, added photos and created a keepsake book for her 60th birthday. My mother-in-law, whom I never met, wrote in two spiral notebooks her recollections of leaving her home in England in 1920 for a new life in America. I turned her story into a book with photos. I interviewed my father-in-law, who was 99 and two months when he died, about his life and titled his book “Spanning a Century.”

My passion for preserving my own family’s stories led to creation of my business, Chapters of Life, where I help others do the same.

While working in the newsroom, I tried to maintain my objectivity. I never joined local organizations because I needed to cover them. I tended to keep my political opinions to myself. I endeavored to report both sides of every issue.

As a professional writer, I have won awards for what I’ve penned; other times, I wish I could have retracted words that made it into print. I believe in working hard and doing your best, but sometimes I fall short. I guess that makes me human.

Nowadays, I can join as many groups as I like. I’m a member of the Chehalis-Centralia Toastmasters, otherwise known as The Mighty 1290. I’m a Republican precinct committee officer. I’m newsletter editor for the Women’s Entrepreneur Organization in Vancouver. I participated in local efforts to honor the Rosie the Riveters and joined in the Ezra Meeker Pioneer Days. I love this community and the people who live here.

In writing this column, I need your help. What will I write about? I’d love to have your ideas or suggestions for future columns. Please email me at the address below.

Julie McDonald Zander is a personal historian and former journalist who lives in Toledo. She owns Chapters of Life, a company dedicated to preserving the past, one family’s story at a time. Her Web site is www.chaptersoflife.com She can be reached at memorybooks@chaptersoflife.com