Reality is overrated. But words have the ability to transport and enchant us. I’ll share a little story with you . . . A long time ago, my lovely grade four teacher took me out of class. She removed her wristwatch and put it to her ear, moving it slowly away. Next, she repeated this to the side of my head and asked me if I could hear the ‘tick-tick’. After repeating the process on my other ear, I realised she was testing my hearing. Such personal attention made me feel important. My hearing, it seemed, was OK. It was just that my nine-year-old mind had a tendency to wander. Hasn’t changed much.
At the end-of-year diary-signing session at this country school, the teacher wrote in my autograph book, ‘To Mark with his head in the clouds, may he have lots of nice dreams and maybe one day bring one back’.
A couple of years later, my absent-mindfulness paid off when I received the school’s book prize for writing and designing a word & picture book.
So I have my feet firmly planted in mid-air.
Early jobs included fruit picking, house painting, milking cows. I trained as a teacher and took up professional tennis coaching. I travelled and explored the Franklin River in Tasmania’s south-west wilderness; then bought an old Remington cast-iron typewriter and started thumping away at the keys to document the adventure.
I studied journalism at the University of Canberra and was awarded a Bachelor of Education in Professional Writing in 1991, with a major in journalism.
Along the way, a wife appeared, followed by three fantastic kids. I blinked a few times, and the kids turned into grandkids. As we increase chronologically, I’m sure time becomes more elastic. It seems to slingshot us along our journey.
I worked as a journalist and photographer for regional newspapers, and also freelanced. The Canberra Photographic Society awarded me Photographer of the Year in 2001. I staged a couple of exhibitions and published thousands of images.
I wrote a couple of books for the government, on health and transport. Also handled media for a couple of CEOs and wrote on business, medical, environmental and social justice issues.
Then published two books: a coffee table travel memoir entitled Fiji and Tavewa – In Search of Robinson Crusoe; and my dear mum’s life story, This That and the Other, which propelled me into memoir.
I’m fascinated by the lives of ordinary folk and the way they can transform their lives.
In 2016, I founded the LifeStory Writing project to help people create their memoirs, editing and ghostwriting, and wrote Life is a Story: How to write your memoir to assist first-time and experienced authors alike, through the autobiographical writing process.
It exhilarates me to see the stories come together. Contact with clients and being able to offer advice is the high point of my day. Having written or ghostwritten 13 books and substantively edited many more, I’m astounded at the stories from ordinary people, their passion and humanity. It’s humbling, really.
Somewhere along the line, I disposed of the cast-iron typewriter. One bloke reckoned it might make a pretty good boat anchor. The country ‘Strine’ speaking voice (from Narrandera) is still with me, as is my predisposition for a dream world – the world my kindly teacher was so concerned about. But there are more important things. There are just too many good stories to be entranced by.
Mark Koehler, founder LifeStory Writing
BA Professional Writing
Member Australian Society of Authors
Founding member, Life Stories Australia