CORONA DEL MAR : Seniors Will Put Memories on Paper

Ed Mauss believes everybody has enough stories in their heads to write a book.

And on July 17, Mauss will begin teaching a class at the Oasis Center to demonstrate to senior citizens how to write an autobiography, complete with pictures and anecdotes.

“The thing that strikes me most about seniors is the wit that comes out of their histories,” said Mauss, 29, who works a day job in the publications department at Mazda Motor of America Inc. in Irvine.

“People are modest,” he said. “They think they live an ordinary life, but when they write it down and look back, they will find” many memories worth keeping.

The course, which begins July 17 and continues for six consecutive Saturdays, will be done in two phases.

First, Mauss will encourage participants to think about their lives and begin to write things down.

In the second phase, he will show them how to use word processing and scanning devices to lend a professional look to their written accounts and old pictures.

“This is not about how to write a 200-page expose,” he said. “These (books) will be 20 to 25 pages of anecdotes that people wish to share . . . with their offspring. It provides life lessons and preserves, if you will, and maintains family histories.”

He said the most interesting histories are brief and concentrate on obscure, forgotten details from days gone by.

Mauss got into writing personal histories after interviewing his grandfather, who, along with his two sisters, were the oldest living triplets in the country.

“He talked about the early days of being a triplet,” Mauss said of his grandfather, who died last year at 91.

“They used to appear in state fairs to make money. . . . They were so small at birth that each fit in a shoe box.”

For more information on the class, which costs $30, call the senior center at (714) 644-3244.