Memoirs amongst the mausoleums.

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, August, 2006 | by Dianna Marder

The folks at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd have hit on a creative way to get people in the door while they're still alive - offering a free memoir-writing class, given on the cemetery grounds. It's a first, at least at this cemetery. Mary Beth Simmons, who teaches graduate courses in memoir-writing at Villanova University, will lead the class, which starts Sept.

7. It is geared to folks over 50, but adults of any age are welcome, and no writing experience is required. "You don't even have to have an illustrious past," Simmons says. "Even the most ordinary story can become extraordinary if you shape it correctly." And if you're looking for inspiration about life, she says, there's no better location than a graveyard. It worked for Edgar Lee Masters, who wrote The...