True stories of everyday people

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Shari Lyn Finnell

How did growing up in Gary, Indiana help Shari Finnell, a journalist with a degree from Northwestern University, to see the world as a place where anything was possible? Shari explains.

Sherril Lyn Adkins

In the Summer of 1966 Sherril Adkins got a job as a waitress at Catfish King in Birmingham, Alabama. Having grown up on integrated military bases she had not yet experienced the racism of ordinary white folks of the South. When the restaurant would not serve an...

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.

Paul Francis Smith

Paul Smith grew up in a Navy family. In the 1960’s when he was a teenager they moved from Athens, Georgia to Monterey, California. Paul talks about the challenge of fitting in and learning to be true to himself.

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!

Jeanette Marie Sawi

While visiting Greece with her brother, Jeanette Sawi took a side trip that changed her life. In this excerpt of the story of how the The Island of Santorini Restaurant in Fountain Square area in Indianapolis came to she tells about meeting the man she would marry.