Meeting My Grandparents Through Family Stories

A Blog Post by
Publishing Intern Lily Fitzgerald


Publishing Intern Lily Fitzgerald’s maternal grandparents, George and Dolores Furtado, 1979

“They would have loved you.”

My mom and I were looking at photos of my maternal grandparents, George and Dolores Furtado, when she said these words to me, her voice soft and wistful. One snapshot was taken at my aunt’s wedding, showing my grandfather, tall and tanned in a grey suit, and my grandmother in a floor-length pink dress. My mom remarked on how fashionable my grandmother was and said, “She would have loved that you sew and would have taken you shopping for clothes all the time!” She also reminisced about my grandfather’s love of cooking and said he would have prepared my favorite foods, like lobster and shrimp. “I wish you’d had the chance to meet them,” my mother said.


“They would have loved you.”


Both of my maternal grandparents died before I was born, and my grandmother didn’t live long enough to meet any of her grandchildren. She passed away in 1987 at the age of 57 from pancreatic cancer, and my grandfather died in 1993 at the age of 63 from prostate cancer. Their children miss them every day, and, in a different way, those in my generation who never met them miss them, too. With no grandparents to spoil us grandchildren, or to tell stories of the past, my sister, cousins, and I grew up with a sense of loss. But no matter how empty the spot at the head of the family may have seemed when I was growing up, my mother and her siblings helped fill the void with memories and stories that brought my grandparents nearer to us all.

My grandfather was born George Furtado in 1929 and was raised on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. His family were rabbit farmers, and he came to the United States at fifteen after his father passed away. Settling in Somerville, Massachusetts, he began working as a barber and training to be a carpenter. My grandmother was born Dolores Cravo in 1930 and was raised one town over from Somerville in Cambridge. She was the daughter of two Portuguese immigrants and grew up surrounded by the Portuguese community there. She went to technical school for design and then worked with a fashion designer in Boston, where she would plan outfits and help models get ready for fashion shows.

George and Dolores met while my grandfather was playing soccer with his friends. My grandmother and her friends were walking in the area and decided to watch the match. Family lore has it that when their eyes met it was love at first sight. They started dating, and then they got married in 1952.

My grandmother planned to continue working for the designer after getting married. Then she got pregnant within the first year of marriage, and my grandfather was drafted to serve in the Korean War. Due to his absence, my grandmother had to stay home with their first son as she waited for the day her husband would return.

George Furtado during his service in the Korean War, c. 1953

My grandfather’s army service in Korea was anything but easy. He rose in the ranks to become a sergeant and was in charge of tanks, but my family never knew much about his experiences until after he died and an uncle told them the truth at his wake. They learned that his team was captured by the enemy and held in a prisoner-of-war camp. We believe he was the only member of his squad to survive, but he never talked about his time in Korea due to what would now be called PTSD. However, he was awarded many medals for his service and was proud that he served our country.

After the war, my grandfather returned home to his wife and child and bought a three-family home in Somerville. While he worked, my grandmother stayed home with their growing family, which would eventually include six children. They sometimes struggled with money, but they always managed to scrape by, providing their children with a safe and happy life. They worked hard and found comfort and hope in their Catholic faith.


“…memories can change the way we see the world and help us understand those around us and those who came before us.”


Beyond their religion, my grandparents also found joy in the little things in life. My grandfather loved to prepare food, and especially seafood. He went fishing in Gloucester, he ate tinned sardines, and he tried to entice his children to eat escargot and clams. One of his favorite meals was a Christmas Eve dish called the Seven Fishes, which he prepared with shrimp, lobsters, crabs, tuna, clams, quahogs, and octopus. He also grew grapes in the backyard to make his own wine in the basement. Apparently, it was sometimes a bit too strong, and after sharing it with friends, they would stagger home. For her part, although my grandmother no longer worked in design after getting married, she never gave up her love of clothes and fashion. She always made sure that her children were dressed well and looked good, spending time sewing and shopping. Then, after her children grew up, she got a job as a nurse’s aide at Mount Auburn Hospital. There she worked in the labor and delivery unit, finding joy in caring for newborn babies and their mothers.

Although they left this world much too soon, my grandparents live on in family stories, proving that memories can change the way we see the world and help us understand those around us and those who came before us. The vivid memories my mom, aunts, and uncles have shared give me a clear picture of the loving, creative, and hardworking people their parents were. So now when I recall my mother saying, “I wish you’d had a chance to meet them,” I can say with thanks that in some ways, I feel as though I have.


Lily Fitzgerald is publishing intern for Modern Memoirs, Inc.

Reflections from Modern Memoirs Client Douglas A. Campbell

Douglas A. Campbell published his book entitled Frederick Morrison Campbell and Agnes Pearson Cancelliere: A Genealogy with Modern Memoirs in 2024. This family history took six months from the day we started the project to the day books arrived on his doorstep. We asked Campbell to reflect on what the publication process was like for him, and what it has meant to share his book with others.


1. What were the sources of the information you presented in your genealogy?

Douglas Campbell: I began with what I had heard from my parents over the years about our ancestors. After my parents died, I took custody of a shoebox and large manilla envelope that contained a disorganized trove of papers and photos they had kept. These included writings about our family from the early part of the 20th century with some specific names, dates, and alleged facts. Once I organized these materials, they provided a foundation for my subsequent research on the internet.

2. How did you go about shaping the information into the narrative you first sent us?

Douglas Campbell: I sorted the information by generations, going back as far as I could on each side, and then I wrote a narrative for each generation. This process resulted in a “bring-down” or “bring-forward” presentation that began with my most distant ancestors and concluded with my parents.

3. Upon reviewing your draft, we recommended, among other things, numbering your ancestors using the ahnentafel system, adding genealogy charts to help readers navigate the text, and reorganizing chapters to present family groups in reverse chronological order (from most recent to earliest, from well-known to lesser known). What do you see as the benefits of these changes?

Douglas Campbell: Keeping track of one’s ancestors becomes more and more challenging as additional generations are included in the “story.” Modern Memoirs made the text more reader-friendly by reversing the chronological order I had imposed, so as to begin with my parents. The addition of a genealogical chart that included a simple numerical convention keeps relationships clear.


“I learned that with hindsight even the lives of everyday people are interesting.”

4. For one chapter, instead of relying only on your own research, you commissioned Modern Memoirs to investigate an ancestor’s rumored descent from King George III and a woman named Hannah Lightfoot. How did this research contribute to the project and to your own understanding of your heritage?


Douglas Campbell: The research done by Modern Memoirs related to a claim contained in the “shoe-box papers” that one of my paternal ancestors, George Rex, was the product of a union between George III of England (while he was Prince of Wales) and a Quaker named Hannah Lightfoot. Modern Memoirs traced the evolution of this story in my family (and in others) and ultimately debunked it, putting to rest my oldest sibling’s royal ambition. How George Rex—so named—managed to come to Western Pennsylvania in the 18th century as an Episcopalian, with an unexplained source of income for life and a daughter named Hannah, to live on a large and prosperous farm, is a mystery left for future generations to solve.

5. Why was it important to you to write a family history?

Douglas Campbell: I wrote the book so that my parents will not soon be forgotten by their descendants, and so that my children, nieces and nephews, and their children, could see their lives in a larger context. I’m gratified that they not only appreciated it, but they enjoyed it, too.

6. What did you learn about your family as a result of exploring its past?

Douglas Campbell: I learned that with hindsight even the lives of everyday people are interesting. Perhaps this book will inspire some future descendant to find my generation interesting, too, and that person will write an update.


Liz Sonnenberg is genealogist for Modern Memoirs, Inc.

A Window into Modern Memoirs History

Time-Lapse Video and Introduction
by Publishing Intern Lily Fitzgerald

In celebration of Modern Memoirs, Inc.'s 30th anniversary, we are proud to share a window display hosted for the month of October 2024 by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce (AACC) at 35 S. Pleasant Street in Amherst, Massachusetts. The display was created by Book Designer Nicole Miller, featuring books we have published over the past three decades by clients from across the country and around the world. Click below to view a time-lapse video showing the set-up process.

We hope that many locals and visitors to downtown Amherst have enjoyed an in-person peek into the work we love to do, and we thank the AACC for its support of our business. Peruse our website, come visit us at the Modern Memoirs offices at 417 West Street, Suite 104, Amherst, Massachusetts, or call us today at 413-253-2353 for more information about our full range of publishing services.

Window display hosted by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and created by Book Designer Nicole Miller in honor of Modern Memoirs’ 30th anniversary, October 2024

Reflections from Modern Memoirs Client “Boswell Carnegie, Esq.”

“Boswell Carnegie, Esq.,” the pseudonym used by our client, published his book entitled Rabbit-Hole Journey: A Fictionalized Recollection of How the Fort Pitt Icemen Were Saved One Score and Five Years Ago with Modern Memoirs in 2024. This work of fiction, inspired by actual events, took just six months from the day we started the project to the day books arrived on his doorstep. We asked “Carnegie” to reflect on what the publication process was like for him, and what it has meant to share his book with others.


Rabbit-Hole Journey opens with a note from the author that describes the book as “a work of fiction inspired by the colorful cast of characters” involved in a real-life drama played out in the U.S. sports world in 1998–1999. In addition to writing under a pen name, the author acknowledges changing names, embellishing events, and inventing dialog “in order to create a full narrative.” Most of the questions in the following interview were inspired by a Writer’s Digest article by author Joan Jackson entitled “Based on a True Story: 4 Advantages to Fictionalizing the Truth.”¹

1. Why did you choose to write a fictionalized account of an actual event and publish it privately for limited distribution? Whom did you intend your readers to be?

Boswell Carnegie: I chose to write a fictionalized account because my primary purpose was to tell a story rather than write a report. Fictionalizing allowed me to simplify and dramatize what otherwise would have been complex and dry. I wrote the story to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a remarkable event, for distribution to the surviving participants, my family, and my friends.

2. Author Joan Jackson says that fictionalizing the truth in her novel Just in Time: Based on a True Story allowed her “the freedom to rewrite history.” She found that she became “so absorbed in the characters that the characters had room to take over.” How did your approach shape your depictions of the multiple personalities and organizations involved in your complex story?

“We’re all fictional characters in a collective dreamscape.”
— Deepak Chopra

Boswell Carnegie: Fictionalizing the workings of the legal process allowed me to amplify its theatrical aspect, by presenting the participants as caricatures playing their respective roles in a stylized heroic struggle, similar to the storyline in a romantic opera. As Deepak Chopra said, “We’re all fictional characters in a collective dreamscape.”

3. Jackson says that by expanding the imagination, “fictionalizing allows the writer to make discoveries.” What insights into the facts did you gain by taking a creative approach? What further insights did you gain through editorial and book-design phases of the publishing process?

Boswell Carnegie: I realized that I cannot take a creative approach to a story without proceeding from a personal basis in fact. The editorial phase of the writing process provided me with confidence in what we produced, and the book design was chosen to reflect the spirit of the story. The design of the book’s cover was inspired by the cover of the 1791 first edition of The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., written by James Boswell, the author from whom I adopted my pseudonym.

4. Jackson also discusses point of view. Your book tells the story in first person. Why did you take that path, as opposed to describing events from different perspectives, which fiction writing gives license to do?

Boswell Carnegie: I told the story in the first person so that the reader could experience the “journey” vicariously through the eyes and mind of the “traveler,” Boswell Carnegie, similar to wearing a virtual reality headset. I fictionalized myself as “Boswell” because I fictionalized all the other participants and did not want to draw attention to myself.

5. Jackson points out that truth is subjective anyway, that it “really is all perception.” She says that, after some time has passed, she cannot always remember if some of the scenes she has written in a novel actually happened. And she asks, “Does it really matter?” How would you answer that question, and why?

Boswell Carnegie: If truth is your honest perception of the facts, then a fictionalized recollection should at least convey the essence of the writer’s honest perception of the facts. Anything less than that becomes pure fiction.


¹ Joan Jackson, “Based on a True Story: 4 Advantages to Fictionalizing the Truth,” 11 December 2017, Writer’s Digest (https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/based-on-a-true-story-memoir-vs-fictionalized-truth : accessed 3 October 2024).





Heartwarming “Paper Toasts”


The 30th anniversary “Paper Toast” mailing created by Book Designer Nicole Miller and sent to past and present clients of Modern Memoirs, Inc., summer 2024

On September 27, 2024, Modern Memoirs held a dinner at the Blue Heron Restaurant in Sunderland, Massachusetts to celebrate several milestones: the 30th anniversary of our company’s founding by Kitty Axelson-Berry; the 20th anniversary of Director of Publishing Ali de Groot’s employment; and the five-year anniversary of my purchase of the business with my husband, Vice President Sean St. Marie. In anticipation of the dinner, we sent a mailing to past and current clients, inviting them to reply with a “Paper Toast” to read aloud around the table.



I saved each card as it was returned to us, waiting to share them with the staff at our dinner. Honestly, as the weeks wore on, it was sometimes very hard to keep the Paper Toasts to myself since I knew how much they would mean to everyone. When the date finally arrived, colleague Emma Solis helped me hang the dozens of cards we’d received around the dining room as impromptu party décor. Then, following my own toasts to Kitty, Ali, and the rest of the staff, we each took turns reading clients’ Paper Toasts aloud to one another.

The effect was just what I’d hoped it would be: we felt our clients’ presence with us as we fondly recalled them and their projects, and we delighted in their reflections on their publishing experiences. Some messages were short and sweet, some were long and heartfelt, and one was even written in rhymed verse! All were deeply appreciated, and with thanks to Publishing Intern Lily Fitzgerald, who retyped each one for posterity, here is a sampling of Paper Toasts to Modern Memoirs, Inc. at 30 years:

Andy Stephens and family:

To thirty years of stories told, 
of memories captured, hearts consoled.
To Kitty, who began this quest
in ’94, she gave it her best.
To Ali, with two decades strong
her passion and skill, helped everyone along
and Megan and Sean St. Marie, five years to cheer
for guiding this ship with vision so dear.
To all the staff, whose hearts and hands
have crafted books across our lands, 
memoirs, genealogies, each line and page
brims in joy and wisdom, age to age. 
Here is to the work you love to do
in the stories that bind us all, old, and new. 
May Modern Memoirs thrive and grow
with good cheer, we raise our toast.    

Hilde Wohl Adler: I chose Modern Memoirs in the first place because I read Kitty Axelson-Berry’s autobiography online and discovered she was once Kathy Lebow and a student in my seventh-grade physical education class back in West Hempstead [NY]. 

The road was smooth from the start. She helped me produce a fabulous professional looking book, The Way It Was, about my life from 0 to 10 in Nazi Germany. And then after Kitty left, Ali helped me with a very different project, I Am NOT Old Enough, about moving into a retirement community. Both Kitty and Ali gave me gentle guidance while allowing me to keep my voice. Both experiences were incredibly meaningful, productive, and fun!


“The book has been an amazing source of laughs, eye rolls, and amazing memories of a great life.”

A toast to you, Modern Memoirs on your 30th anniversary. And Ali, Megan, and Sean, on your anniversaries. I hope you have many more years of doing this wonderful work, helping writers produce amazing books.


John and Mary Jane Bower: Our experience with Kitty and Ali was magical. John was in the early stages of FTD and was losing his language abilities as a result. He now is completely unable to communicate verbally but finds great joy when we read his book aloud to him! The gift that keeps on giving!

Brooks Bradford, Jr.: Congratulations! We are so happy we had a book from my dad and the unexpected friendship created by Kitty and my dad! The book has been an amazing source of laughs, eye rolls, and amazing memories of a great life. Wishing you another amazing 30+ years. Sending big Texas love!

Ali de Groot: Congratulations! I am one of the lucky people who can say I love my job. I owe it all to Kitty for believing in me over 20 years ago. And Megan and Sean couldn’t be better at keeping the Modern Memoirs flame blazing and gathering the most caring and professional team of stars. Thank you all!

David Dearinger: I am proud and happy to have had my book published under the expert guidance of Ali, Megan, and all at M.M. A toast on your  anniversary and always. 

Mary Alice Dillman: Modern Memoirs, Inc. rests its honor with marks of distinction on this 30th anniversary in the publishing world. Celebrate Kitty upon the establishment of the company in 1994. Have all my laurels in 2012 and 2022 go to de Groot’s 20-year employment anniversary. Ali was the shining star of trust, talent, and communications. I worked with her closely. She answered my questions with patience and heart, for I was a beginner in the publishing world, and I needed help to make my copy of my autobiography more perfect. By 2022, I was more experienced. The whole crew of writers and publishers graciously supported me. Thank you.

Brian Dunsirn: Here’s to Modern Memoirs’ 30th anniversary! I began working with your company in 1999 when we created my father’s memoir, I Dunno. Twenty-five years later you helped me create my own memoir, The Sky’s the Limit. The purpose of creating my book was to allow our eight grandchildren to understand the challenges and opportunities of achieving success and happiness in life. 

The experience turned out to be more valuable for me than I had expected. The reflection on family, friends, achievements, and failures helped me to realize what is truly important in life. It also helped me focus on the future and what remains to be accomplished. 


“The reflection on family, friends, achievements, and failures helped me to realize what is truly important in life.”

It was fun working with all of you! Good luck with your future storytelling. 

Joe Garrett: Thank you for the two wonderful books!


David Gryboski: To Ali, Megan, and the entire Modern Memoirs team! In the final months of my father’s life, seeing his story (and the final galley of Me and Shakespeare) in print was a gift that brought immense joy and satisfaction to his life, and preserving his memory has meant more to me and my family than words can express. 

Congratulations on a wonderful achievement and thank you for all that you do. Cheers to another 30 years!

James A. Heffernan: I had the most excellent good fortune to work with Ali and the team on two of my books, and those were the best publishing experiences I’ve had. It seems things are going strong at Modern Memoirs, and for nothing could I be more happy and grateful. Go another 30! or 60!

Harold Hirshman: With care and passion, joy and encouragement, Kitty and Ali coaxed and cajoled and comforted, so the impossible came true—my books. 

Eileen Hultin: Congratulations to Modern Memoirs on so many anniversaries: Thirty years since the founding by Kitty Axelson-Berry, twenty years since Ali de Groot joined the company, five years since Megan and Sean St. Marie purchased the business. And...three years since I had the good fortune to hear about Modern Memoirs. 

What a happy occasion for me when I learned from Megan, after reading one of the earliest chapters, that my manuscript would be accepted. It was such an exciting experience working with Ali for the next several months, that I almost wish I could write a second life story, but sadly, I had only one to write about.

May Modern Memoirs flourish for many more years.


“I almost wish I could write a second life story, but sadly, I had only one to write about.”

Paul Jensen: A toast to all my friends at Modern Memoirs—Thank you for helping me bring my heartfelt words to parchment. It is with gratitude that I lift my glass to your continued success!! Have a wonderful time of it...


Lawrence Kohn: Best wishes on your various anniversaries. A special thanks to Ali, who worked with me on conception, and organizing, and liaison to Megan and her colleagues. The result was a fitting anniversary gift of my collected poems. This book was formally presented to me by my wife, Laurie Buchalter, in a re-wedding ceremony in our living room—Portraits: poems to mark 50 years

Lynda Sun Lee: Congratulations on keeping up the great legacy of Modern Memoirs started by Kitty. Wishing you all continued success and many more satisfied customers!

Marian Barrett Leibold: Congratulations on this great accomplishment. I have enjoyed my relationship with Modern Memoirs and look forward to more projects. Thank you for your commitment to the written word!

Barbara Levy: Congratulations Modern Memoirs, Inc. on your 30th anniversary! Seventeen years ago the Westport Woman’s club celebrated their 100-year anniversary with a wonderful, informative memoir, A Rare Woman’s Club. With Ali de Groot’s beautiful editing and support throughout the project, the book was published and enjoyed by its members and the Westport community. 

Our office manager continues to display the book on her desk for new members and prospective members to browse through the club’s history. Thank you Ali and the Modern Memoirs Staff.

Anna Markus: Dear, dear Kitty: you are marvelous—as a social activist, an entrepreneur, and as a friend. Thank you for all the positive energy you put into the world! Congratulations on establishing such a valuable business and for helping me get through our deeply meaningful Bat Mitzvah. 

Dear Megan and Ali, Congratulations to you for your successful new chapter of Modern Memoirs. What a marvelous job you both do! Thank you for helping me complete Delicious Air and Refuges. Neither would have been done without you. 

Lili Lunny Neuhauser: When my mother found Kitty and M.M., there was great excitement as we knew she had found the right people to help tell her story. Keep Smiling: Life on Three Continents was the fantastic result! What a gift to Liane’s family and friends. Her story continues to inspire and remind us to enjoy life, even through hardship and keep smiling!


“toasting your caring and the compassionate understanding you have for your clients, their words, and their aspirations.”

Elizabeth Pannier: Congratulations to Modern Memoirs, Inc.’s 30th anniversary.


When I recall writing and working on my mother’s remembrance book Walking Together, I am filled with the process of remembering my very dear friend, my mother, and the friendship and encouragement from Ali de Groot as she guided and directed my story. Her encouragement and clear understanding of my memoir was the best possible support to offer an elder writer. I still remember that time writing with a full heart and a sense of inner peace. Many thanks to Ali de Groot’s kindness, sensitivity, and support.

Best wishes to you all in the years ahead! May you continue to deliver many great stories and assist many other writers. 

Roland Parent: Congratulations and best wishes to all at Modern Memoirs on your 30th anniversary, and many thanks for a wonderful lifetime experience, the publication of my Sentimental Voyage: A Maritime Memoir in 2021. 

Joyce B. Phillips: Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of Modern Memoirs! Happy 20th anniversary to Ali! Best wishes to Sean and Megan for their 5-year ownership of Modern Memoirs. 

I feel so privileged that Modern Memoirs published three very special books for me to share with my family. It was such a rewarding experience working with Ali starting 14 years ago when the first book, The Magic Lantern Stories, started on its road to being published by Modern Memoirs. 

Gail Reimer: I can’t let this occasion go by without toasting your caring and the compassionate understanding you have for your clients, their words, and their aspirations. Wishing you continued success in assisting women and men shape and tell their stories.

Lydia Cartwright Rosen: I am so very grateful to Modern Memoirs, Inc. for helping me to bring my memoir, Mountain Springs, into existence. Ali de Groot, especially, applied her excellent editing skills to set up the format for portraying my personal essays, photography, and collage. I have been complimented many times over my handsome book of 176 pages, which I have given to friends and family and which has sold well at local stores and museums of Gold Country near Sierra City. Kudos to Modern Memoirs, Inc. 


“Wishes come true—Modern Memoirs makes them so.”

Stephen Rostand: A group of talented professionals who assisted me to express my life by guiding me on several voyages of self-discovery that are my memoirs. Their designers worked with me to produce books that are works of art


Robert Singleton: Congratulations on 30 years! And thanks for the memories!

Stephen F. Snyder: Cheers!

Janet Kipp Tribus: You helped me in an incredible way, sorting through all my slides and newspaper cutouts; the history of my art! I thank you for being “on top of it” and seeing 2 books published! I’m so grateful to Ali, especially.

Elizabeth Tan Tsai and Nien-Tszr “Tom” Tsai: Wishes come true—M.M. makes them so. Their staff are so fun, like vintage wine, I’ll drink to them! 

Rud Turnbull: Two memoirs, two superb experiences with Ali and her team. I am proud to be an alumnus and I was/still am proud of the work products you all helped from the very start to the very end. 

Cheers to 30 years! Many thanks to all who sent in Paper Toasts for our dinner. And…if you would like to leave an “e-Toast,” feel free to do so in the comments below.

Megan St. Marie (left) and Liz Sonnenberg (right) finishing the dining room setup at the Blue Heron Restaurant, Sunderland, Massachusetts, with clients' Paper Toasts hanging on the window and mirror

Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg (left) reads a Paper Toast, seated next to Bookkeeper Julie Shively

L-R: Kitty Axelson-Berry, Ali de Groot, and Emma Solis, enjoying the reading of clients’ Paper Toasts

Vice President Sean St. Marie reads a Paper Toast aloud to the Modern Memoirs staff and guests, with other cards waiting to be read behind him


A Toast to Julie, Emma, Nicole, and Liz at Modern Memoirs’ 30th Anniversary

On September 27, 2024, company owners Megan and Sean St. Marie hosted a dinner at the Blue Heron Restaurant in Sunderland, Massachusetts celebrating the 30th anniversary of Modern Memoirs. The following is a toast Megan gave in honor of Bookkeeper Julie Shively, departing Publishing Associate Emma Solis, Book Designer Nicole Miller, and Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg. 


Bookkeeper Julie Shively

Just as I can’t take credit for hiring Ali, I am indebted to Kitty for hiring the wonderful Julie Shively as bookkeeper. Julie, what would I do without you? May I never find out! As I toast your scrupulous way with numbers, your encouraging spirit, and your efficient yet patient manner during our weekly tête-à-têtes, I want to thank you from the bottom of my mathematically challenged heart for helping me navigate the financial and administrative side of the business. The systems you’ve created for our accounts, and your advocacy for our success, give me clarity and confidence, and I am forever grateful.

Publishing Associate Emma Solis

I do take credit for hiring the rest of our team, most recently, Emma Solis. Emma, we are all so sad to see you go, but we will cheer you on from Amherst as you spread your wings in New York City. I speak for the rest of the team when I say how much I’ve appreciated your willingness to dive into any task, and how much I’ve enjoyed the beautiful writing you’ve shared. Please keep in touch to let us know how things are going in the Big Apple, and never hesitate to send along your latest pieces of writing. You have so much to share with the world, and I am glad we got to play a part in the very beginning of your career.

Book Designer Nicole Miller, with one of the vases gifted to the staff at Modern Memoirs' 30th anniversary dinner

Speaking of New York City, Nicole Miller, when I contacted one of your references during the hiring process he said, “She belongs in New York, so you’re lucky if you can hire her. You’re not going to find many designers with Nicole’s level of talent around here. She’s a true artist.” Over the past three years, you’ve proven him right countless times, but I’ll say that you belong right here! You are an integral member of our team, and the frequent gasps and exclamations of delight that come from our staff upon viewing each new cover design or draft layout are testament to your talents. Your patient flexibility and openness to feedback enable you to serve even our most exacting clients, and your good humor and keen marketing insights benefit us all. Thank you, thank you, for all you do.

Megan St. Marie with Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg

Last but not least is the first person I hired, Liz Sonnenberg. Kitty said it was “beshert” or meant-to-be when we began discussing the business purchase. Liz, I think our meeting was beshert, too. I thank my lucky stars that you saw Sean’s name listed as company owner on the roster of a genealogy class he didn’t end up being able to complete when you were studying at BU. We think his enrollment was fate, if only to direct you to us. You appeared like someone heaven-sent as I struggled with how to complete the genealogy portion of a client project at the time. After seeing your extraordinary freelance work on that book, I told Sean, “She is so good, I’d be a fool to let her go!” Hiring you was a time when I really listened to my heart and did what I knew was right even though it wasn’t my initial plan. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, your passion, and the meticulous eye you bring to all you do. In the words of the childhood book-of-my-heart, Anne of Green Gables, you are a “kindred spirit.” I am so fortunate that my personal history includes knowing and working with you.

Cheers to all of you, the remarkable Modern Memoirs staff!


Megan St. Marie is president of Modern Memoirs, Inc.