The thing

about oral history is that it's by and large the spoken word. Unfortunately for some, the simplest way of using oral histories is by reading them. It's not the perfect approach to getting what someone said, but it does make reference easier.

And I say unfortunately for some because some poor devil has to transcribe all the verbiage. Lucky for me on the project I am now involved in, the Doctor running this deal has a secretary (a complete doll, by the way) who has been doing all the heavy lifting on this. I mean heavy lifting, as she says her back is killing her from sitting and typing all this hot air.

Unfortunately, she was having trouble making head or tail out of one interview, done with a chap of foreign extraction. I volunteered to attempt it in the hopes of freeing her up for more useful tasks. Lord have mercy. Aside from the fact that the interviewee appears to have marbles in his mouth, this is really miserable work. I'm making good progress (halfway through, 24 pages or so in four hours of work), but this is no fun at all.

This is why I think Terry is a saint for typing all his wife's stuff. I'm glad my wife can type, and the kids happily can still hand in all work in crayon.