Last Thursday I covered the death of William J. Anderson, a World War II veteran and fifty-plus-year resident of Columbia, Missouri.
As I called his 94 year-old sister Eleanor and spoke to her about her recently deceased little 84 year-old brother, she was one of the best interviews I’ve had so far in my semester at the Columbia Missourian. She was so honest and had a terrible memory, but really was attempting to give me real, raw answers. She wasn’t afraid to say “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember,” she was just honest with me. I really felt a sense of trust with her that she so willingly gave to a person she had never met, seen or spoken to before. That was beyond refreshing.
While I was talking to Eleanor, she kept mentioning Bill’s son Tom. I got him on the phone and had a great interview with him speaking about his father, and he was open with me as well. I got several quotes speaking about his life, hobbies and aspects of his personality and I felt like I had a sense of who he was.
After I spoke to a fellow member of the Elk’s Lodge who knew Bill as well, I sat down and began to write. I had never written a life story before so I looked up an obituary on our website and saw the formula writing of it and began to type.
I was so nervous and intimidated by writing about one of Columbia’s last World War II veterans from Tom Brokaw’s Greatest Generation. I felt like all I could do was mess this up, get a fact wrong, not write it correctly and the family would get mad at me -
and then I just let it go. I started to write, write, write, write and let his life be the driving force behind the life story. He had a character and personality and I just tried to let it shine through.
I guess it worked. I was published in the daily yesterday for my life story, the third time I’ve been published in the daily for my work, and I felt completely gratified for my work. I felt like I did something right, that I celebrated his life and that his community of bowlers, golfers, Elk Lodge members and family could read it.
and that made all the difference.
