Write what you know: ‘Fix What You Can’ & ‘Love You Hard’

What does it take to turn your memories into a memoir? When is the right time to write a memoir about your life? How do you report on your own experiences and fact-check them? How do you determine what you don’t know and decide what to leave out? And when, and how, do you tell the people closest to you about their role in the narrative? 

These issues will be discussed in a 45-minute program with memoirists Mindy Greiling, author of “Fix What You Can: Schizophrenia and a Lawmaker’s Fight for her Son”; Abby Maslin, author of “Love You Hard: A Memoir of Marriage, Brain Injury, and Reinventing Love”; journalist Angela Greiling Keane, editorial director of states and Canada at POLITICO, whose family played a role in both memoirs; with moderator Aly Colón, Knight Professor of Media Ethics at Washington & Lee University. 

Registration is open now for the free program, which will be held on Oct. 2, from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. 

The discussion will also address:

• Ethical dilemmas in memoir writing and how to overcome them 
• Techniques and tools for memoir writing
• What other memoirists didn’t tell you

About the panelists

Mindy Greiling is the author of “Fix What You Can: Schizophrenia and a Lawmaker’s Fight for her Son.” She served in the House of Representatives in Minnesota for 20 years, including 14 after her son was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder in 1999. She initiated the first state bipartisan mental health caucus where legislators worked together to pass legislation, including allocating the most annual funding for mental health in Minnesota history up to that date. She has served on the national and state National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) boards and currently serves on the University of Minnesota Psychiatry Community Advisory Council.

Angela Greiling Keane is editorial director of states and Canada running policy and politics coverage for regional-based teams. She joined POLITICO in 2016 and previously was deputy states editor and deputy technology editor. She is the current president of the nonprofit National Press Club Journalism Institute and was the 2013 National Press Club president.

Abby Maslin is an elementary school teacher with DC Public Schools as well as the author of “Love You Hard,” about her family’s experience with traumatic brain injury in the year following her husband’s brutal attack in Washington, DC. Abby’s activism in the brain injury world earned her the title of Marie Claire’s Model Citizen for 2013. Abby holds master degrees from both Drexel University and American University in the areas of creative arts therapy and education. Her experience in special education has played an integral role in her capacity as a caregiver.

About the moderator

Aly Colón is the Knight Professor of Media Ethics in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Washington and Lee University.  Prior to joining Washington and Lee, Colón spent more than 30 years in journalism. He worked for a news service, daily newspapers, public radio, network television and a journalism institute.