People

Author, teacher taps ‘next in line’

Everyone has a story to tell: The story of their life. The question is, who is going to tell it? If you’re lucky, it might be a professional biographer, a historian, or The New York Times. Or, maybe one of your children, grandchildren, a niece, or nephew will interview you for a class project. But what if you wrote your life story?

Jay turns workshop participants on to telling their personal life stories.

Besides authoring Next in Line: Everyman’s Guide for Writing an Autobiography, Kiwanian Armiger “Jay” Jagoe has written a host of books, including: The Winning Corporation Executive Bedtime Stories Tell It Again, Mother Goose Southern Boy

“Most of us postpone writing our autobiographies until it is too late,” says author Armiger “Jay” Jagoe in his book Next In Line: Everyman’s Guide for Writing an Autobiography. “We keep putting it on the back burner. The problem is that it can’t be done once the stove is turned off.

“Time passes quickly. Suddenly, it’s a shock to realize you’re next in line to record your life story. If you don’t, it’s everyone’s loss.”

That’s why Jay, who is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Washington, in the Capital District, wrote Next In Line—and why he went on to create and offer, free of charge, the “Next in Line Project” in libraries in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The program, based on the 12 components of autobiographical writing found in Jay’s book, uses a guide he created to lead individuals through a series of four two-hour workshops aimed at encouraging participants to “tell their stories.”

Most of the people in his workshops are in their 40s to 60s, with some in their 30s, he says, but there’s another age group he especially hopes to tap.

“My sole purpose was to get seniors to record their life stories,” he says, noting that besides giving the guide to libraries, he also is offering it to senior centers. “But it’s not just about recording the story. It’s also about what it does for people.

“It’s magic. (When people tell their story) it makes them feel better—both physically and mentally. They feel very excited about their lives and the importance of who they are.”

He likens the process of guiding individuals in discovering and sharing their life stories to planting a seed and watching it sprout into a living plant. During workshops, Jay—or another trained volunteer—discusses three of the 12 autobiography components. Then, participants partner up to tell their story. Partners change every so often, and they never repeat back to the same partner. As a supplement to the workshops—and a place for anyone interested in autobiography—Jay created www.you-are-next-in-line.com, where he offers insight and monthly columns.

He says the positive feedback he receives on program evaluations is “phenomenal.”

“I’m seeing a lifetime of friendships develop within the month of workshops,” he says. “ It just opens a whole new era of relationships for people.

“Everyone likes to talk about themselves and hear others’ stories. But there is such a tremendous silence between the living and the living. That’s what I’m trying to break down.”