APH Region & Chapter Coordinators

Quick Links to Regions

Arizona Region (USA)

Tim Pierce Arizona Region Coordinator	Tim Pierce is a storyteller. He has always been fascinated with family history. The turning point came when he lost his grandparents in just a few years' time. All of the stories and memories he took for granted were now valuable jewels that he began to seek out. With each treasure found, there were 10 more questions that could no longer be answered. Tim looked into how to capture these memories for himself and others, and he found a group of dedicated, friendly and passionate people known as the Association of Personal Historians. Tim began the business of storytelling in 2011 through the use of video, photography and storybooks. Following Tim's first APH conference in Las Vegas, NV, in 2011, he went back to Phoenix, AZ, to pursue his degree in film production as his business began to grow. Tim also became involved in the local APH chapter with the goal of doing whatever he can to bring enthusiasm, diversity and growth to the premier organization dedicated to preserving personal history. » Read more about Tim » Email Tim Pierce

California Region (USA)

Julie Blade Northern California Chapter Coordinator	Julie Blade is a relative newcomer to APH and to the Regional Coordinator’s role. She began her company Lifetime Chronicles – Capturing Life’s Special Memories in the fall of 2010 and was fortunate to be immediately awarded a project. Her first book was recently published and has been well received. Julie’s professional hats have included social worker, Head Start and elementary school teacher, trainer and team manager with Bank of America and Citibank, and 20+ years as an independent instructional designer working with large corporations in the San Francisco Bay Area. She believes her past ultimately led her to becoming a personal historian, which she believes is the most important and most gratifying work she has ever done. In addition to interviewing clients and ghostwriting their autobiographies, Julie facilitates small groups who write their own life stories through the Guided Autobiography process. Julie has three grown children and four grand children. Her interests, in addition to writing and family, are singing, gardening, and hiking. » Read more about Julie » Email Julie Blade
Rachael Rifkin Southern California Chapter Coordinator	Rachael Rifkin works in print and has been a member of APH since 2009. She started out as a journalist and began calling herself a memoirist in late 2008 because she didn't yet know the term personal historian. She loves people's stories and is very happy to have found work that she is passionate about. Rachael is a lifelong Southern Californian, minus brief stays in Northern California, New York, and the Netherlands. She's quite partial to reading, knitting, juggling, playing with her dogs, and laughing with her husband. Much to her great disappointment, and despite fervent practice, she cannot whistle. She's also short. Furthermore, she's not especially good at writing short biographical sketches about herself, and would rather not discuss how long this took her to write. » Read more about Rachael » Email Rachael Rifkin

East Canada Region (Canada)

Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec

Jennifer Campbell East Canada Regional Coordinator	Jennifer Campbell was one of the first personal historians in Canada, starting Heritage Memoirs in 2003. Her background includes more than 30 years as a writer and editor with such major book and magazine publishers as McClelland & Stewart, Harlequin Enterprises, Toronto Life and Canadian Living, and the CBC, Royal Bank and TVOntario. Once she discovered the field of personal history, she knew she’d found her true calling, and over the past ten years she has worked with dozens of people to capture their life stories and family histories in heirloom-quality books. Jennifer has been featured in, among other publications, the Wall Street Journal, Gannett Newspapers (publishers of USA Today), the Toronto Star, Costco Connection, MORE magazine, and Elle.com. Jennifer is the author of Start & Run a Personal History Business and was the first recipient of APH’s award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Personal History. In APH, she has sat on the Board of Directors, was Regional Coordinator, was the editor of the Members’ Toolkit and the editor of the APH newsletter for several years. She’s happy to resume the role of Regional Coordinator and help lead the growing Eastern Canada region. » Read more about Jennifer » Email Jennifer Campbell

Great Lakes Region (USA)

Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio

Jennifer Sauers Great Lakes Region Coordinator	Jennifer Sauers has co-owned Beyond the Trees, LLC in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her business partner Kristi Woodworth for four years. They help people create tributes, family histories, legacy letters and self-published books, as well as conduct area workshops on personal history topics. Jennifer is trained as a psychiatric clinical nurse specialist, and prior to starting Beyond the Trees she worked for over two decades at Kendle International, a clinical development company. There, she held positions in project management, human resources, and technical writing. Kristi and Jennifer met each other while serving on the board of a non-profit organization and realized they both liked to help people capture their stories. They work from an office in the Hamilton County Business Center, an incubator that helps launch small companies in the Greater Cincinnati area. » Read more about Jennifer » Email Jennifer Sauers
Kristine Woodworth Great Lakes Region Coordinator	Kristi Woodworth is the co-founder of Beyond the Trees, a Cincinnati-based personal history and publishing business devoted to helping people tell their stories. Beyond the Trees conducts oral history interviews, publishes individual and collaborative tributes and memory books, teaches personal history and legacy letter workshops, and works to promote community awareness of the importance of personal history through speaking events at groups including Kiwanis clubs, women’s groups and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. The company’s annual Personal History Expo, held each fall and open to the public, is a day of educational presentations and informative exhibits on a variety of topics related to personal history. Kristi began her career in business, with a degree in marketing from the University of Arizona and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati. Twenty years in marketing research honed her interviewing techniques and taught her how to find the story in a stack of data tables. She finds the stories in other people’s live much more interesting. » Read more about Kristine » Email Kristine Woodworth
Deb Moore Michigan Chapter Coordinator	Deb Moore, a lifelong Grand Rapidian, started her business The Stories of Your Life in 2003 to help individuals, families, and businesses preserve their history in book form. As a personal historian, Deb has helped dozens of local residents preserve their life stories, written two church histories, a centennial history of a school district, and a company history for a local business. Deb was a member of the S.O.U.L. of Philanthropy team, a group of local personal historians who recorded the stories and reflections of top Grand Rapids philanthropists for the 2008 documentary film, “The Gift of All--a Community of Givers.” Deb has made presentations on memoir writing at local libraries, retirement homes, senior centers and Calvin College’s Youth Writing Festival. She served as APH's Regions Director from 2009-2010. The field of personal history combines Deb's love of local and family history, genealogy, reading, writing, conversation, photographs, and scrapbooking. » Read more about Deb » Email Deb Moore

Hawaii Region (USA)

Lisa Simon Hawaii Region Coordinator	Lisa Simon is a personal historian and founder of REMEMBER MEdia. She started her business in 2006 thinking it was the most unique business ever, and then was pleasantly surprised to hear about the Association of Personal Historians and that there’s a whole industry around what she does. She joined APH in 2007. As part of her business, Lisa interviews older people about their lives, records it on video, and then edits it into a DVD as a historical memento for future generations. When Lisa moved from Chicago to Hawaii in 2009 she became the Hawaii Region Coordinator. » Read more about Lisa » Email Lisa Simon

International Region (International)

Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, Faroe Islands, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Other, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

Lower Southeast Region (USA)

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico

Mid-Atlantic Region (USA)

District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia

Karla Haworth Metro Washington, DC Chapter Coordinator	Karla Haworth has been working as a journalist, writer, editor, and project manager for nearly 20 years. After moving away from full-time writing and reporting in 2002, she discovered what she had loved best about journalism: the deep sense of connection and satisfaction in listening to and recording her subjects' stories. Karla longed to tell those amazing stories full-time, and was delighted to find so many APH members were doing just that! She joined APH in 2011, and has attended the annual conferences in Las Vegas and St. Louis. She launched her business, Periwinkle Muse Personal Histories, in Annandale, VA, in 2012. » Read more about Karla » Email Karla Haworth
Martie McNabb New York City Chapter Coordinator	Martie McNabb, the daughter of an Air Force pilot, was born on an Army base in Okinawa. For the last 20 years she has lived in the Prospect Heights area of New York City, where she loves the people and the energy of the place. She received a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil science at the University of Massachusetts and a master’s in multicultural studies and curriculum development. Before becoming a personal historian, she worked as a high school biology teacher and an ASL/English interpreter. Martie led a Meet-up Group of personal historians in New York City prior to assuming the role of an APH chapter coordinator. She’s currently working to integrate the two groups. When she’s not working on client personal history projects through her business Memories Out of the Box, Marty enjoys county-western and Latin dancing and is involved with Tree Task Force, an organization dedicated to the caring of NYC street trees. » Read more about Martie » Email Martie McNabb
Marianne Waller Philadelphia Chapter Coordinator	Marianne Waller attended the 2003 APH Conference in Denver and decided to say goodbye to a 25-year career as a pharmaceutical copy writer/creative director. She considers interviewing people and writing their stories the best work in the world and wishes she had discovered the concept of personal history 20 years earlier. Marianne moved to the East Coast from Indiana in 1984. For twelve years, she enjoyed living in Center City Philadelphia, conveniently located halfway between Washington, D.C., and Northern New Jersey, where her daughters live. She feels honored to have worked with many Holocaust survivors, helping them record the stories behind their tragedies and triumphs. In the spring of 2011 she completed a trilingual, multicultural project about a grandmother who was born and raised in Rajasthan, India, and spent her adult life in Japan. In 2009, Marianne and an enthusiastic group of Philadelphia-area personal historians planned and hosted the Valley Forge APH Conference. As the current Conference Director, her goal is to help provide a forum for advancing personal history and important educational opportunities for member development. » Read more about Marianne » Email Marianne Waller
Ford Fuller Pittsburgh Chapter Coordinator	Ford Fuller began his marketing and communications consulting business after two decades in marketing communications with Westinghouse Electric and companies in the computer software, steel mill equipment, and direct mail services industries. Over the years, he's drafted and edited marketing and sales brochures, direct mail pieces, newsletters, advertisements, multimedia presentations, working with graphic designers, ad agencies, and direct mail houses. Following the untimely death of his mother, he began to nurture the idea of using his editing, writing and project management skills to help others preserve the stories of their lives for the benefit of loved ones. He joined APH and decided to put his talents to work as a life story writer. Ford earned a B.A. in political science from Duke University, with an unofficial minor in music appreciation. He devoted many hours to choral singing with the Duke University Chapel Choir and Chorus. He's continued his devotion to choral singing as an enthusiastic tenor now in his 18th year with the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale and, lately, as a budding barbershopper with the North Hills Harmony Line Chorus. » Read more about Ford » Email Ford Fuller
Eileen Kent Upstate New York Chapter Coordinator	Eileen Kent is owner/director of Stories of a Lifetime in Utica, NY. She began her business in October 2005 and has been a member of APH since 2006, attending the Portland conference that year. Eileen has dual master's degrees in education and counseling and worked as a counselor for 20 years in her company, the Women's Consultation Center. She has also been a teacher, mediator, and program director/newsletter editor for ElderLife Inc., a senior center in Utica. She loves creating DVDs of her clients' stories, but also enjoys thinking "outside the box" and developing a variety of other interesting projects, including documenting the refurbishing of a 747 plan for its new owner in Russia. Since joining APH, Eileen has supported the organization by creating the Used Equipment Sale (located on the Forum), and serving on the Nominations Committee, Scholarship Committee, and the Conference Audio Recording Committee. » Read more about Eileen » Email Eileen Kent
Taylor Whitney Upstate New York Chapter Coordinator	Taylor Whitney (APH member since 1998) has over 25 years combined experience in film preservation and photographic preservation. She is president and founder of Preserving the Past, LLC, established in 1997 in Los Angeles, CA. Her client base includes business, corporate, fine art, personal and institutional. Services include converting film, video, audio and photographs to digital, organizing digital assets and original elements, re-housing, creating searchable databases, and cold storage. Another well-regarded aspect to Preserving The Past is working with clients to document the stories behind the images. Prior to launching her business, Taylor worked in post-production and film preservation in Hollywood for major motion picture studios for several years before expanding her knowledge base to include photographic preservation by earning her Master of Arts in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University in Toronto in collaboration with George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. Preserving The Past, LLC is headquartered in Rochester with offices in Los Angeles and clients worldwide. » Read more about Taylor » Email Taylor Whitney

Midwest Region (USA)

Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin

Denise Gripp Midwest Region Coordinator	Denise Gripp, owner of Ever-After Enterprises, has over 20 years’ experience in the field of research and analyses. She professes to be a “Family History Specialist” in her home-based business that formally took root in 2007. She attended her first APH conference that year; she hopped in her car at the last minute and trekked all the way to Nashville, Tennessee! The trip remains her reigning “experience of a life time.” Her career path has changed recently, and she is currently working full-time for local attorneys. In her spare time, she continues her personal history and research pursuits and has recently completed her first for-hire personal history compilation--a book and video combo entitled “Reflections.” In 2008-09, Denise served on the board of the Iowa Genealogical Society. During her tenure, she presented numerous classes and was the sole planner of two successful fall conferences. Denise is currently the president of her county genealogy society and has organized and participated in various “family history fairs.” » Email Denise Gripp
Rhonda Kalkwarf Chicago Chapter Coordinator	Rhonda Kalkwarf, of Mount Prospect, IL, began her work as a personal historian when she was finishing her degree in Adult Development--although she didn’t know it at the time. As a final project, she interviewed her mother-in-law about her life and her experiences as the wife of a pastor. When Rhonda discovered how much she enjoyed the process and what her work meant to her mother-in-law and her whole family, she knew she was on to something. She transformed that academic project into a keepsake book and realized a new vocation. Today Rhonda helps people create books of their personal stories, as well as histories of businesses and organizations. She joined APH in 2010 and attended her first conference in 2011, where she accepted leadership responsibility for the APH Chicago Chapter. The growing chapter is focused on providing educational, networking, and joint marketing opportunities for area members. Their current project is developing a campaign to raise awareness of personal history in the Chicago area. » Read more about Rhonda » Email Rhonda Kalkwarf
Sherry Borzo Des Moines Chapter Coordinator	Sherry Borzo is a professional interviewer with a honed talent that encourages others to remember and share stories of their life experiences. She has a genuine curiosity and interest in others and believes in the power of sharing stories, however small, to teach, heal and connect people. Sherry founded Storied Gifts in 2007 to help others document their memories so they can be shared and treasured for the future. In addition to her work as a personal historian, Sherry hosts the award-winning podcast "Entrepreneur People Real Stories," and co-hosts with her husband "The Delicious Story." She founded dsmBuzz, a grassroots organization that promotes the value of buying locally owned. Sherry and her mother, Sheryl Van Weelden, co-authored the book Under the Tea Leaves. Sherry's personal history business was profiled in July 2011 in the Des Moines Register. » Read more about Sherry » Email Sherry Borzo

Northeast Region (USA)

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

Marjorie Turner Hollman Massachusetts Chapter Coordinator	A long-time resident of Bellingham, MA, Marjorie Turner Hollman grew up in Florida and comes from a long line of Southern storytellers. Her interviewing techniques, storytelling and writing skills bring out those sometimes hidden qualities in people, places and organizations, and makes them shine. She uses these skills with individuals and organizations to help chronicle their personal and organizational histories. A newcomer to APH, she has produced one personal history book, nearly finished her second, and is looking forward to her next project. She also conducts memoir writing and storytelling workshops in the southern New England area. » Read more about Marjorie » Email Marjorie Turner Hollman

Northwest Region (USA)

Alaska, Montana, Oregon, Washington

Teru Lundsten Northwest Region Coordinator	Teru Lundsten lives in Anacortes, Washington, after living in Seattle for 35 years. As a journalist, she wrote many short profiles and developed a tremendous curiosity about all kinds people. That curiosity led to writing personal history books. She joined APH in late 2009 and attended her first conference in Victoria, BC, in 2010. Besides writing personal histories, Teru also continues to write profiles for a local website and teaches memoir writing at two venues in town. Whether people are writers or non-writers, Teru believes that everyone's life story is unique and should be preserved for future generations. She believes the process is as valuable as the product, empowering the narrator and leading to a variety of physical and psychological benefits. Teru gives public presentations on the topic. » Read more about Teru » Email Teru Lundsten
Emily García Portland-Oregon Chapter Coordinator	Emily García is a visual storyteller with a background in book design, book arts, and writing. She delights in working with individuals and families to preserve their stories, and welcomes collaborations with other personal historians. Her company, Cathemeral Press, specializes in creating exquisitely crafted and visually stunning personal history books. Emily joined APH in 2010 and launched Cathemeral Press later that year. Since then, she has been an active member of the Portland APH chapter, serving as the chapter's liaison to "big APH" and creating a simple chapter web page. She looks forward to continued involvement with and service to Portland's vibrant and enthusiastic community of personal historians. » Read more about Emily » Email Emily García
AuraLee Loveland Portland-Oregon Chapter Coordinator	Aura Lee Loveland, M.S.W., has helped clients publish their life stories for over 20 years. The personal history spark began with her own grandparents, helping three of them create printed legacies that generations continue to enjoy. Working with clients from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest, she promises her clients she will provide “as much or as little” service as needed to help them complete their project. Aura Lee was a featured monthly columnist for the Canby Herald, writing “Stories of a Lifetime,” featuring long-time community members. Recently, she added genealogical research to her services. She is currently a partner with Time Preserved, Inc., a company offering personal and family history services and genealogical research. She also presents community seminars on the worth of personal and family histories. » Read more about AuraLee » Email AuraLee Loveland
Gloria Nussbaum Portland-Oregon Chapter Coordinator	Gloria Nussbaum founded Real to Reel in 2001 and since then has helped more than a hundred people record their stories for family and friends. As far back as she can remember, she has been drawn to the human voice. When she went to college, it took her three years to find her way to the college radio station, but when she did, she was hooked. Several years later, she secured her first job in radio broadcasting, where she loved being "on the air." Now, as a personal historian, she is passionate about preserving the actual voice of her clients and specialized in interviewing and producing professional-quality audio recordings at an affordable price. Gloria was born and raised in western New York, near Buffalo. She earned her B.A. in English and worked for nine years in the radio broadcasting industry in Phoenix. She also worked as an administrative assistant for non-profit organizations in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Oregon. Gloria believes that what she does, listening to and recording stories, is sacred work. She is daily reminded what a privilege it is to do work that makes a difference in the lives of all concerned, from the storyteller to the family and friends who hear the stories. She has served on the APH Board as Membership Chair. » Read more about Gloria » Email Gloria Nussbaum

Oceania Region (Oceania)

Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Polynesia

Annie Payne Oceania Region Coordinator	Annie Payne, an Australian personal historian, founded History from the Heart, in 2006 when she joined APH. She first commenced interviewing people about their life stories in 1988 as a Bicentennial project and hasn’t stopped following her passion. Annie attended the 2008 and 2010 conferences, reaffirming her personal history work and strengthening friendships. As a personal historian, she draws on the skills and knowledge in her kit bag from her professional experience in nursing, social work, membership, events and PR management, and tertiary education lecturer. Annie spreads the personal history word in Australia and New Zealand via frequent radio interviews, community newspapers, and articles in Inside History, Australia’s new family history magazine. » Read more about Annie » Email Annie Payne

Rocky Mountain Region (USA)

Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming

Grace Gamm Colorado Chapter Coordinator	S. Grace Gamm is delighted to live and play in Boulder, Colorado. She has enjoyed her career as a physical therapist, specializing in geriatrics, for more than 20 years. Motivated by an obsession with reading memoirs and a craving for the pleasures of writing, Grace joined APH in 2011 when she decided to attend the conference in Las Vegas. She has been working on her first project for a family member, learning every step of the way and aspiring to offer personal historian services to local families in the future. Appreciating the benefits of teamwork and community, she volunteered to co-chair the Colorado Chapter. Without exception, each person she has come to know through APH has been friendly, helpful and fun-loving. Grace is looking forward to working with her APH Colorado co-chairs and leadership to create opportunities and support for members in Colorado. » Read more about Grace » Email Grace Gamm
MaryBeth Lagerborg Colorado Chapter Coordinator	Mary Beth Lagerborg has loved interviewing people and writing their stories since her first job as a writer for Colorado County Life magazine, when she traveled the Colorado back roads to interview the oldest flying farmer or the local rodeo queen. She is the author of nine non-fiction books, personal essays, blogs, video curriculum, magazine articles, and is currently writing a first novel. Mary Beth served as publishing manager for the non-profit MOPS International (Mothers of Preschoolers), and has wide experience shaping book projects from conception through publication and marketing. Her personal history business is Retelling: Creating Legacy Through Your Story. She lives in Littleton, Colorado. » Read more about MaryBeth » Email MaryBeth Lagerborg
Cherie Orwig Colorado Chapter Coordinator	Cherie Orwig initiated Journeys and Memories, her personal history business, in 2008, to record and preserve family histories and develop legacy letters for loved ones. Her passion is long-standing, as she was raised in "small town USA" with family who regularly shared stories. Cherie currently facilitates a class in memoir writing at the University of Denver's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), is an active volunteer with the Colorado chapter of the Veterans History Project, a program of the U.S. National Archives, has completed training from the Center for Digital Storytelling and is working with the University of Colorado's Dignity Therapy initiative, a component of its palliative care program, on documenting patient stories. Cherie's career, first in social work, then in leading healthcare marketing and communications in Ohio and Colorado, has provided her with a toolkit of interpersonal communications and project management skills that are vital to documenting cherished family stories. » Read more about Cherie » Email Cherie Orwig
Paulette Stevens Utah Chapter Coordinator	Paulette F. Stevens, a native of Salt Lake City, graduated in 1969 from the University of Utah in English and history. She raised seven children, taught at a private boarding school and established the Children’s Museum of Utah. In 2003, after working as a journalist, she became a personal historian and has published over 40 books. Paulette served as the 2008 APH Conference Program Chairman. Since then, she has spearheaded an awareness of personal history in the community through teamwork with other APH members. In March 2012, she established the new Life Story Library Foundation. » Read more about Paulette » Email Paulette Stevens

South Midwest Region (USA)

Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi

Southwest Region (USA)

New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas

Tom Gilbert New Mexico Chapter Coordinator	Tom Gilbert is the founder and developer of Your-Life-Your-Story.com. After a 30-year career in radio broadcasting, Tom began to work in the personal history field in 2003. He joined APH that year and discovered there are many interesting and talented people working in the field of personal history. Tom believes his strengths are interviewing and writing, but he also loves to teach others. He completed his certification to teach school in May of 2011 and has utilized life story preservation themes in the classroom and in life story workshops. When he's not running his personal history business, Tom enjoys running (two marathons and a several half-marathons), and following the Boston Red Sox (a lifetime fan!). Tom has been married 27 years and has two children and two grandchildren. He's proud of his illustrious great-grandfather Fred Gilbert, an original member of the Trapshooting Hall of Fame. » Read more about Tom » Email Tom Gilbert
Martha Humphries Texas Chapter Coordinator	Martha Humphries is a personal historian who helps clients collect and preserve their life stories. Using her writing, editing and interviewing skills gained in more than 30 years as a journalist as well as a natural curiosity for details, she helps clients resurrect memories and details from the past that make family stories come alive. Martha is certified by the Birren Center for Autobiography and Life Review to teach guided autobiography. Guided Autobiography classes help participants write their life story two pages at a time. Through writing and sharing stories with the others, students gain a growing appreciation of their own lives and the lives of others while documenting their own life stories for their families. Martha firmly believes that every one has a story that needs to be shared and preserved for future generations. » Read more about Martha » Email Martha Humphries

United Kingdom Region (UK)

Mike Oke United Kingdom Region Coordinator	Michael Oke began his company Bound Biographies in 1991 and since then has assisted with over 150 private biographies, while his team of writing partners have completed another 150. Via a series of home meetings, Mike or one of his writing partners reviews the client's writing, teasing out more fascinating information along the way, before editing, proofreading, inserting photos, and printing and binding the finished product. His company also offers ghost-writing services. Mike's business concept has attracted eight writing partners (franchisees) from around Britain, and two in Sweden. Mike is the author of Write Your Life Story and Times of Our Lives, both sponsored by The Daily Telegraph. He lectures extensively, and his work has been featured on BBC television and radio. Mike, who is married and has two children, enjoys cricket and squash and is active in his local Baptist church. He joined APH in 2006 and has attended three conferences. » Read more about Mike » Email Mike Oke

Upper Southeast Region (USA)

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

Maggie Peltier Upper Southeast Region Coordinator	Marjorie (Maggie) Peltier is the owner of FamPhotory LLC, “Your Personal History Studio.” Maggie’s passion is helping her clients organize, archive, and restore old family photos, preserve the stories behind each, and produce StoriesYouHaveNeverHeard© for family members and significant others. She is a reminisence coach, technologist, and poet, as well as a mother, grannie, mother-in-law, and family caregiver for mother Marjorie. Sometimes called “the memory lady,” Maggie also works with early-stage dementia clients and other persons diagnosed with life threatening conditions. As a technologist she will do all the technical work for the client or will show clients how to do what she does. Her Personal History Studio appeals to all ages and is used by both novice and experienced technology users, either as private clients or as workshop attendees. Maggie has a master's degree in counseling psychology from Santa Clara University and a master's in business management from Webster University. » Read more about Maggie » Email Maggie Peltier
Candace Cox Tennessee Chapter Coordinator	Candace Cox founded her business, Remembering Then, in 2012. While new to APH, she’s not new to a love of history, genealogy, and preserving stories. She has an academic background in history and has been involved in genealogical research for 40 years. After spending 35 years in the corporate world, she’s excited to be focusing full time on her passion for history and enjoys helping individuals, families, communities, and businesses preserve theirs. Candy speaks to community groups about the importance of preserving personal history, and she also teaches life writing workshops. She lives in a 100-year-old farmhouse with her husband and three opinionated cats-- Trouble, Elvis, and Rudy. The barn is home to a family of adoptable groundhogs, if anyone is interested. » Read more about Candace » Email Candace Cox
Pat West Tennessee Chapter Coordinator	Pat West is a personal historian, but prior to that she was a teacher and then a social worker for over 25 years, with a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's in human resource development. She developed and provided training in the social services field and wrote training and educational manuals/ curriculums. Most recently she was the director of a therapeutic foster care agency in Chattanooga. a Family Life Coach at Blue Monarch, a residential program for women, and a hospice volunteer. Early in her social work career, she learned how to interview people and complete assessments and individual and family histories. During her career she has written or edited hundreds of family stories. She also helped children and adolescents write life story books, a therapeutic way of helping them deal with their lives. Pat founded Tree of Life Memoirs in 2011 and “kicked it off” in 2012. Since then she has transcribed, edited, and published memoirs of people from her area and authored a narrated “photo memoir.” Pat lives in Sewanee, Tennessee, with two dogs, two cats, and her husband, not necessarily in that order of importance. » Read more about Pat » Email Pat West

West Canada Region (Canada)

Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory

Pattie Whitehouse West Canada Region Coordinator	Pattie Whitehouse, coordinator of APH’s West Canada Region and the Victoria, B.C., chapter, fell into personal history in 1992 when she took on a volunteer project helping an elderly gentleman record his memoirs for his family. Since then, Pattie has helped dozens of people save their lives in print so their children’s grandchildren will know their family and personal heritage. Pattie’s background includes an M.A. in psychology, volunteer experience as a counselor, a previous career as manager of a small retail business and a decade pursuing journalism as a sideline. She has served on APH bylaws, membership and strategic planning committees, but the high point of her involvement with the organization so far was her adventure as program chair of “Voices of the Elders,” the association conference held in Victoria in 2010. “It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life,” she says. » Read more about Pattie » Email Pattie Whitehouse Pattie is also the Victoria Chapter Coordinator
Roger Bakes Alberta Chapter Coordinator	Roger Bakes worked as a childcare worker after graduating with a B.A. from Trinity College of the University of Toronto. In the mid-1980s, he undertook a labor of love by completing an M.A. in English at University of Calgary and then, to pay the rent, did a master’s in Library and Information Studies from the University of Alberta. After a decade developing library services for the non-profit sector in Saskatchewan, he developed Knowledge Matters Information Services, providing research, writing services, website development and policy for a variety of clients. He also wrote movie reviews and feature articles for Saskatchewan’s alternative publications, prairie dog and City Lights and taught English for the University of Saskatchewan and Communications for Red Deer College. Seeking a change in life direction, recognizing how the work of a personal historian incorporated his interests in research, conducting interviews, new technology and video and being influenced by Jennifer Campbell’s Start & Run a Personal History Business, Roger established Living Years—Video & Print Personal Historian Services. » Read more about Roger » Email Roger Bakes
Lynn Duncan Vancouver Chapter Coordinator	Lynn Duncan, a Vancouver native, received a history degree (Hons) from the University of British Columbia. She then went on to a successful career in human resources focusing on interviewing and instructional design. Lynn got into personal history when her partner’s mother (her partner lives in England), asked for help publishing her travel diaries. Lynn realized that with her partner’s publishing background and her history/interviewing background, they could help other people tell their stories. They discovered APH as part of their research and started Vivalogue in 2010. Their company offers full personal history and book creation services for individuals, groups and societies in Canada and the UK. In the last two years, Vivalogue has branched out to publish fiction, corporate cookbooks, sports annuals, and other projects ranging from 1 to 1,000 copies. Their core commitment is to offer a one-stop shop to anyone looking to navigate the world of self-publishing. Lynn has been married for 32 years and has two grown children. » Email Lynn Duncan

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