Tag Archives: memoir editing

Deciphering Jim Higgins

“The volunteers, led by Cecil-Smith and Jim Higgins, the commissar for the trip home, marched onto the stage to thunderous applause.” 

Really? It made sense to me that Edward Cecil-Smith would be leading. He was the battalion commander. But Jim Higgins?

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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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