Category Archives: Memoir Editing and Publishing

What it’s like to edit and publish a memoir of someone who’s been dead for several decades.

Editing Jim Higgins’ 1930s Memoir

There will be those who question how I went about editing a memoir written by someone long dead. Did I put words in his mouth? Did I change his voice? How did I deal with the inevitable, questions, puzzles and mistakes.

Jim Higgins’ at Stoney Lake, 1981. A lot had happened in a few years; he’d drafted his memoir, been found by Manuel Alvarez, and “The Tall Soldier”, had been published. He died in 1982. His memoir lay fallow 40 years, until his daughter, Janette, began the editing process.

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