Author Archive

by Steve Pender, video biographer & personal historian, Family Legacy Video, Inc. At the end of the day, what it is you’ll remember about your loved ones? Great accomplishments? Public acclaim? Perhaps. More than likely, though, it’ll be their endearing and “imperfect” qualities – like in this commercial commissioned by the government of Singapore. Enjoy!

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Beautifully Imperfect

by Steve Pender, video biographer & personal historian, Family Legacy Video, Inc.

At the end of the day, what it is you’ll remember about your loved ones? Great accomplishments? Public acclaim? Perhaps. More than likely, though, it’ll be their endearing and “imperfect” qualities – like in this commercial commissioned by the government of Singapore. Enjoy!

by Steve Pender, video biographer & personal historian, Family Legacy Video, Inc.

Imagine finally seeing your father run in the Olympics – the 1912 Olympics, that is.

Creating video biographies is always fulfilling for me. But occasionally I can provide a special service that really gives me the warm fuzzies. Here’s an example:

Just before Christmas of 2004 I completed a Family Legacy Video for a wonderful couple, Mary-Lou and Dick, in Tucson, Arizona. It turns out that Mary-Lou’s dad was a college track star in the 1910s, held the record for the mile for a number of years and placed fourth in the 1500m run in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden.

After I finished the video, Dick asked me if I thought film footage of the race might exist. I told him I’d check around. I contacted a few film archives with no success, then managed to find my way to the Web site of the International Olympic Committee. I submitted a query through the site, and then went on to other things.

After about a month, I received an e-mail from an archivist at the IOC. Believe it or not there was a film clip, thirty seconds long, of the race I was looking for!

Long story short, the IOC sent me the clip. The quality of the film was surprisingly good and gave views of the starting line, the mid point of the race and the finish. I added a title screen and created two versions of the clip, one running at normal speed and one in slow motion, adding a freeze frame of Mary-Lou’s father crossing the finish line. Then I put it all on DVD.

After watching the footage, Mary-Lou wrote me, saying, “You can’t imagine what a thrill it was to see Dad running. That was an amazing thing you did for us but it meant the most to me. Thank you again and again.”

I feel great knowing I helped make a very special and unique addition to a family’s archive.

Ever worry about losing your luggage when travelling abroad? Well, part of planning your trip should include these few simple tips:
Pack enough basics in a carry on — so you can survive just in case your main baggage doesn’t arrive.
Purchase baggage delay insurance — I suggest American Express so you can spend $500 on necessities [...]
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Lost my luggage in Brazil…

by Steve Pender, video biographer & personal historian, Family Legacy Video, Inc. Did you ever play Wiffle Ball? Growing up, it was the summer pastime of choice in my suburban New Jersey neighborhood. Every day, kids would congregate on the side street by my house, choose sides and have at it. Games were noisy affairs, punctuated by lots of arguments over close calls, and could last for hours. It wasn’t unusual for us to suspend a game for dinner and then reconvene afterwards. In fact, I remember finishing one game under the glare of a neighbor’s headlights. It was a pretty safe game, too, thanks to the hollow plastic Wiffle Ball. It would glance harmlessly off just about anything it hit. The exception was Mr. Daly’s tulips. Mr. and Mrs. Daly lived on the other side of the street. They were a very pleasant, elderly couple and they tolerated us kids pretty well. Unfortunately, Mr. Daly insisted on planting tulips outside the chain link fence bordering his backyard. He was quite proud of those tulips and the bright red and yellow blooms they provided each spring – and he became quite upset whenever a sharply hit foul ball lopped the top off one of them. Or two. Or three. Not that we wanted to damage the flowers; they were just innocent bystanders that occasionally got caught in our Wiffle Ball crossfire. The 1960s, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Daly, are long gone. But a recent experience brought all those memories back to me. In early July, my wife Halina and I traveled back to New Jersey to visit family. One day, we drove through my old neighborhood. I couldn’t resist stopping to look at my old house, now vastly enlarged from the little bungalow in which I grew up. I walked around the house and took a few pictures – and it wasn’t long before I caught the attention of one of the neighbors, who probably figured I was casing the place for a robbery. He strolled over, a glass of beer in hand, and asked if I needed some help. I introduced myself and told him I grew up in the neighborhood. We started chatting, and soon I found myself in the middle of a small crowd of neighbors, answering questions about what things were like in the old days, and who used to live where. During the course of our chat, I mentioned our Wiffle Ball games and the many tulips we beheaded. Finally, the time came to say goodbye. As I was about to leave, the neighbor currently living in the Daly’s old house said, “You know, I’m glad you mentioned about the tulips. They keep sprouting up and I had no idea where they came from.” As Halina and I drove away, the thought of those tulips – Mr. Daly’s legacy to the neighborhood – filled me with a warm glow. The experience reminded me that legacies can take many forms, be they video biographies or tulips – and that they enrich and inform the lives of the generations that follow. Nice job, Mr. Daly.

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A Legacy of Tulips

by Steve Pender, video biographer & personal historian, Family Legacy Video, Inc.
Did you ever play Wiffle Ball? Growing up, it was the summer pastime of choice in my suburban New Jersey neighborhood. Every day, kids would congregate on the side street by my house, choose sides and have at it. Games were noisy affairs, punctuated by lots of arguments over close calls, and could last for hours. It wasn’t unusual for us to suspend a game for dinner and then reconvene afterwards. In fact, I remember finishing one game under the glare of a neighbor’s headlights.

It was a pretty safe game, too, thanks to the hollow plastic Wiffle Ball. It would glance harmlessly off just about anything it hit.

The exception was Mr. Daly’s tulips.

Mr. and Mrs. Daly lived on the other side of the street. They were a very pleasant, elderly couple and they tolerated us kids pretty well. Unfortunately, Mr. Daly insisted on planting tulips outside the chain link fence bordering his backyard. He was quite proud of those tulips and the bright red and yellow blooms they provided each spring – and he became quite upset whenever a sharply hit foul ball lopped the top off one of them. Or two. Or three. Not that we wanted to damage the flowers; they were just innocent bystanders that occasionally got caught in our Wiffle Ball crossfire.

The 1960s, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Daly, are long gone. But a recent experience brought all those memories back to me. In early July, my wife Halina and I traveled back to New Jersey to visit family. One day, we drove through my old neighborhood. I couldn’t resist stopping to look at my old house, now vastly enlarged from the little bungalow in which I grew up. I walked around the house and took a few pictures – and it wasn’t long before I caught the attention of one of the neighbors, who probably figured I was casing the place for a robbery.

He strolled over, a glass of beer in hand, and asked if I needed some help. I introduced myself and told him I grew up in the neighborhood. We started chatting, and soon I found myself in the middle of a small crowd of neighbors, answering questions about what things were like in the old days, and who used to live where. During the course of our chat, I mentioned our Wiffle Ball games and the many tulips we beheaded.

Finally, the time came to say goodbye. As I was about to leave, the neighbor currently living in the Daly’s old house said, “You know, I’m glad you mentioned about the tulips. They keep sprouting up and I had no idea where they came from.”

As Halina and I drove away, the thought of those tulips – Mr. Daly’s legacy to the neighborhood – filled me with a warm glow. The experience reminded me that legacies can take many forms, be they video biographies or tulips – and that they enrich and inform the lives of the generations that follow.

Nice job, Mr. Daly.

by Steve Pender, video biographer & personal historian, Family Legacy Video, Inc. Several years ago, my local paper, the Arizona Daily Star, published a wonderful poem by a poet named Andrei Guruianu that relates to family history in a very personal way. The poem really resonates with me; I hope you enjoy it. Grandfather by Andrei Guruianu Dead before I came into this world, grandfather, I carry your name, yet I’ve never met you. I hear my name, and know that somehow they refer to you. When I scribble those six letters fast, to sign some document or print them neatly in a box, I feel your presence flow with the ink stain and burn through the paper, forever imprinted in my mind. Late summer nights gathered around the dinner table, leftovers being cleared away, faces clouded in cigarette smoke, I hear voices pass the word back and forth in reverence. Somehow I know it’s not me the little one grabbing for attention. They speak of you, Andrei, the one I’ve never met, whose name I carry.

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Family Legacy in Poetry

by Steve Pender, video biographer & personal historian, Family Legacy Video, Inc.

Several years ago, my local paper, the Arizona Daily Star, published a wonderful poem by a poet named Andrei Guruianu that relates to family history in a very personal way. The poem really resonates with me; I hope you enjoy it.

Grandfather
by Andrei Guruianu

Dead before I came into this world, grandfather,
I carry your name, yet I’ve never met you.
I hear my name, and know
that somehow they refer to you.
When I scribble those six letters
fast, to sign some document
or print them neatly in a box,
I feel your presence flow with the ink
stain and burn through the paper,
forever imprinted in my mind.
Late summer nights
gathered around the dinner table,
leftovers being cleared away,
faces clouded in cigarette smoke,
I hear voices pass the word
back and forth in reverence.
Somehow I know it’s not me
the little one grabbing for attention.
They speak of you, Andrei,
the one I’ve never met,
whose name I carry.

by Steve Pender, video biographer & personal historian, Family Legacy Video, Inc.

I just found a site where you can generate your own personal historical timeline.

If you have a few minutes and want to see how your personal history intersects with world events, head on over to OurTimelines.com. Enter in your name, the date of your birth and the current year, and the site generates a timeline of historical events – and tells you what your age was when these events occurred.

Enjoy!

by Steve Pender, video biographer & personal historian, Family Legacy Video, Inc. I just found a site where you can generate your own personal historical timeline. If you have a few minutes and want to see how your personal history intersects with world events, head on over to OurTimelines.com . Enter in your name, the date of your birth and the current year, and the site generates a timeline of historical events – and tells you what your age was when these events occurred. Enjoy!

Here is the original post:
The Timeline of Your Life