True stories of everyday people

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Michael O’Brien

Michael Obrien talks about training to go to India with the Peace Corps in 1973, how growing up in a large family on a Wisconsin dairy farm helped prepare him for that work and how stories and language affect our world view.

Elizabeth Mae Gore

With an extensive list of volunteer opportunities and amazing energy in her senior years, Elizabeth Gore talks about flunking retirement!

M. Travis DiNicola

The question, “What are you going to do with your life?” came up many times in the life journey of Travis DiNicola. When you are multi-talented, how do you know when you shouldn’t be, say, a dancer? Travis tells of one of the many mentors who helped to guild him along...

Carol Bussell

Born in New York, Carol Bussell is a professor at IUPUI who uses stories in her teaching. She came to her Life Stories intervew with family artifacts, journals, diaries, photos, and most importantly books!

Dennis Paul Strickland

Beth, the babysitter, is nice but she does not know what four-year-old Paul wants for lunch when he asks for “Foffy.” So begins the quest for food and understanding.

Lou Ann Homan

All that her three little boys wished for Christmas was a pony. But in order to raise the $75 dollars to pay for it their homesteading mother would have to bake THIRTY PUMPKIN PIES for Thanksgiving … with no electricity, no running water and a wood burning stove! This...

Barbara Ann Steinmetz

Pets were an important part of Barbara Ann’s idealistic childhood in Brown County, Indiana. Little did she know that wild foxes would take someone dear from her and lead to a career in the medical field.