Facilitated by attorney and writer Barbara L. Morgenstern
Barbara is a licensed attorney and engaged in the general practice of law with her father. She also served as a federal court law clerk and as a past president of the Greater Cincinnati Women Lawyers Assn. Before law school, Barbara worked as a newspaper reporter at The Cincinnati Post. She also taught media law and newswriting and reporting for a decade at Miami University of Ohio.
Our Ethical Will Writing and Short-Form Memoir workshops are your portal to profound nonfiction writing from the tapestry of your life. In small-group settings participants explore experiences and memories in simple, specially designed writing spaces that are fun, safe and positive.
Ethical Wills
With biblical roots some 3000 years old, an Ethical Will is a nonlegal document that provides what you want your loved ones to know and to understand. A commentator noted, “Legal wills bequeath valuables; Ethical Wills bequeath values.” Examples include:
What we hold as precious and meaningful at our core
The values we have treasured
The people who have shown us the way
How our mistakes shaped and enlivened us
The great questions we have asked in our lives
The answers we have discovered
The New York Times noted that Ethical Wills are “a way to counter the cold legalese of wills and trusts…an Ethical Will says who I am…even sometimes helping soothe ruffled feathers when dispensing family assets.” (NYT 10/31/14)
Click Here for Examples of Ethical Wills.
Workshop tuition includes an Ethical Will Workbook.
Short-Form Memoir
This genre is a safe and enjoyable way of transforming your thoughts and experiences into narrative. Barbara has studied extensively with nationally known memoir writing facilitator and author, Nancy Slonim Aronie of Martha’s Vineyard (“Writing from the Heart” and “Memoir as Medicine.”)
As Nancy describes the process, “It is not therapy, but it is therapeutic.” Click Here to Read beautiful memoir examples from our workshops.
