I'm Still Standing
by Joanne L. Vine (edited by Janis Williams)
Working with Joanne Levin Vine was different from other experiences I've enjoyed as a memoirist. For one thing, Joanne was younger, only in her mid-fifties, when she decided to write her story. She had undergone a series of losses, and she wanted to reflect on how they had affected her and how she had survived them. Perhaps because all are relatively recent, the experiences she describes seem as raw as when they first took place. Her pain seems not to have abated with time. Instead she seems to have absorbed the pain, incorporating it into her interior life, transforming shattering losses into a prism through which she sees the world today in shards of light and color.
Joanne lives in Washington, D.C., and we did much of our work electronically. I visited her in Washington about two-thirds of the way through the project, and we spent several days working intensively. We both enjoyed the collaboration.
"I will always be indebted to my editor, Janis Williams, who helped me put my feelings in writing. We laughed and cried together as we shared intimate details of my life. Thank you so much, Jan."
—Joanne Levin Vine
For online ordering:
www.joannelvine.com or 301 365 8824