Curious Stuff – Mementos, Treasures, White Elephants, and Junk

This is Vol. 6 in the Personal Story Publishing Project Series.

Forty-five writers share personal stories of Curious Stuff - Mementos, Treasures, White Elephants, and Junk. Our modern lives are full of stuff we want and stuff we would be happy to see disappear, stuff that makes us laugh, makes us proud, makes us teary, and sometimes gives us pause. What makes it all special are the stories we tell—the how, the who, the when, the where, and why we hope to pass some things along or not. Stories bring life to the stuff around us and help us best put it all away for safekeeping in our loved one’s hearts and minds.

Through 45 short stories, you share in the life experiences of writers—both fresh, new voices and seasoned storytellers. They skillfully share tales from their lives, causing us all to consider our own experiences, our own stories of dealing with—wrestling with—the curious stuff we might have all around us, wanted or not. What to keep and what to toss? What to pass along and to whom and why? And what is all this stuff really worth anyway without the stories we tell about it?

Randell Jones is a writer, speaker, podcaster, and publisher in Winston-Salem, NC. He created the Personal Story Publishing Project in 2018 and the companion podcast, “6-minute Stories” in 2019 to encourage other writers. He is an award-winning writer about the pioneer and Revolutionary War eras and North Carolina history. For 13 years, he served as an invited member of the Road Scholars Speakers Bureau of the North Carolina Humanities Council, speaking to audiences around the state and the South. In 2013, the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution conferred upon him its national History Award Medal. During 25 years, he has written 100+ history-based guest columns for the Winston-Salem Journal.