Testimonials
“Mimi has been a fantastic teacher and so motivating! She is amazingly attentive to each student, yet seems to have a great gift to recall details and stories from my past! How can she stay both light and humorous and also keenly incisive with suggestions for improvement? Our small group adores her and the way she fosters trust and confidentiality among us. Somehow with all the students she also stays organized and disciplined with our time. I have taught many students, so recognize and appreciate her enthusiasm and skill.” MDC
“I took Mimi’s class on a whim with no particular goal in mind. I certainly didn’t expect it to have such a significant and positive impact on my life but it did and I have since ‘re-upped’ for many continuing sessions. The writing prompts made me think about my life in more penetrating depth, helped me realize how I became who I am. Beyond self-discovery, the delight of the class was listening to other people’s stories, learning about our generational commonalities as well as our individual differences. Fascinating! We have created a small community along with our stories.” Maggie J.
"The Guided Autobiography method combined with Mimi’s skillful facilitation have made the Writing Our Stories classes wonderful experiences for me on many levels. Writing my stories has given me a more profound self awareness. I’ve also gained new storytelling skills, and have improved my writing abilities. Listening to my classmates read their stories has introduced me to very interesting, kindhearted people who have become good friends. Mimi’s considerable writing skills along with her attention to detail enable her to provide insightful and succinct reviews of our stories, and her natural curiosity often leads to questions about the facts of our narratives. I think Mimi must be an empath who can sense and feel other people’s thoughts and emotions, and she can do it via Zoom meetings, which is quite remarkable. I learned a lot from Mimi, and even more from my small group members. Mimi facilitated, encouraged and enhanced those relationships within our group. She brought out the best in all of us without drawing too much attention to herself. She encouraged us to make ourselves more uninhibited and vulnerable by revealing parts of her story that many would leave in the shadows, and thereby she encouraged us to do the same." Mike H.
"I’ve been taking Mimi’s Writing Our Stories class since Fall 2020. Mimi is a natural teacher. She focuses on the needs of each student to the extent that she almost becomes invisible. Our learning is a process of facilitated discovery. That’s why she keeps classes small. Mimi creates a safe space for each of us to be our most authentic self. She also facilitates our learning from each other. She boosts our confidence as writers and nurtures our individual talents. I believe Mimi truly cares about each of her students. Mimi is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had." Mary M.
"When Covid first hit us in 2020 and we were all isolated and struggling to see a path forward, I began taking OLLI classes. I had not penned anything for years, though I had always loved writing. As a professional editor, I had read texts and tried to improve them but had authored very few, so the description of this class intrigued me. Writing Our Stories (WOS)/ Guided Autobiography (GAB) was also a bit frightening, because though I needed the motivation to get started again and wished to create with words, I wondered who in the world would want to read or listen to anything I might have to say. I also wondered why in the world I might be interested in writing about my own life. Eek! I even sent Mimi an email before the class started to tell her about my misgivings regarding sharing personal stories, and she was very understanding. She encour-aged me to give it a try and see what happened. No pressure. So I did.
I don’t know about other people, but as someone hoping to get the feel of writing again, this class made sense to me. I mean, where else would you start unless you already had a novel or larger work in progress? I didn't, so I registered and then met Mimi and the class via Zoom. Happily for me, everyone involved was wonderful-- intelligent, funny, fully engaged, willing to share portions of their very interesting lives, and forgiving to anyone who lacked confidence in their own abilities. As that class progressed, and then the next, and the next, we solidified into a group of five plus Mimi and have really gotten to know each other through our stories. We have become friends who socialize outside of class and respect each other's talents, tales, and writing skills. My life has truly been enriched and enlivened by these new relationships. Thank you, Covid! And thank you, Mimi.
For the record, Mimi has been the master chef concocting and stirring this tasty stew we call WOS (or GAB), the sorceress who skillfully improves our essays with her astute comments and questions while acting as discreet caretaker of our vulnerabilities. If you like to write, give this class a try. During that first Covid winter, my thought was this: 'What else have I got to do?' not the best advertisement for this course, you might say, but remember the pandemic and the cloud of confusion that settled over all of us. Now with the clarity that comes from writing during the past couple of years and living through the various phases of this crazy virus, my recommendation is this: 'Cancel whatever you need to in this schedule to make room for WOS.'
As the Nike folks say, 'Just do it.' " Kathleen M.