Life historian preserves people's personal stories

At Life Histories by Helen, every project is as unique as the business itself.

For 20 years, Helen R. Brooks has captured people’s life histories for their family members, preserving details as particular as the appearance of a childhood bedroom or as intimate as their thoughts on death.

“It’s extremely unique to each person,” she said.

Each interviewee answers a set of more than 200 personalized questions curated by Brooks, family members and the interviewee. It takes months to build a trusting relationship and answer all the questions.

Brooks believes the business only works because of her patience, her listening skills and her personal connection with the work.

“I always tell people my personal connection,” she said. When she was 23, her father suffered a stroke that robbed him of his speech. While he lived another 23 years, she was never able to ask him the many questions that came up throughout that time.

“He could say about 10 words.” Words like “I’m sorry,” and “beautiful.”

Brooks started Life Histories by Helen in order to give clients the chance to ask the questions she never could.

She records the stories on video to capture the sound of loved ones’ voices as they reminisce about their childhood and the look on their faces when they talk about their wedding day.

“It just adds a whole other level of meaning,” she said.

She credits her interviewing skills to her parents, her upbringing and, in part, her work as a professional counselor. Brooks grew up in a close community with her three siblings on the south side of Chicago. Since moving to Kalispell for the opportunities the area provided for her three children, she has been determined to make this service accessible to the Flathead Valley.

While she offers this service to the community, she gets a lot out of it in return. Brooks spends months getting to know her clients, building their trust and sometimes even living in their homes for the duration of the interview.

“I get to meet so many distinctive people,” she said. “This brings a sense of community for me to meet so many wonderful people from so many walks of life. It’s just such an honorable position to be in that people allow me in their privacy, in their private life.”

She has conducted about 30 interviews with clients all over the country and the world. “I’ve fallen in love with each person because they’ve allowed me to come in and take a slice out of their memories.”

Each interview has an emotional impact and a lesson for her. “I cry every time,” she added.

Life Histories by Helen is a service for anyone interested in capturing a loved one’s life history exactly as that person tells it, without any outside influences or interpretations. It’s an opportunity she realizes most people may not even know exists.

The project might seem to lend itself to individuals at later stages of life, but Brooks said she has done life histories of people of all ages who want to preserve their history for family members.

“When people see this, they not only know their loved one, they get a better idea of themselves and where they come from,” she pointed out.

While she works with a marketing company in New York, she said almost all of her clients have connected with her through word of mouth. Information about Brooks and her life-history business can be found on her website, www.lifehistoriesbyhelen.com

Brooks is interested in growing her life history business, as long as the expansion does not impede her practice as a professional counselor.

Her upcoming life history may be her most challenging. Soon, Brooks plans to record the history of her own life.

After watching so many people go through the emotional process, she knows it will be challenging to answer the set of hundreds of questions herself. But, she said, “My kids would kill me if I didn’t do my own history.”

When people ask her how they might be able to conduct their own life history interviews, she tells them that the process is far too personalized and unique to export. But she is considering a longtime friend from her Chicago childhood, who also lives in Kalispell, to serve as her interviewer.

“It’s a gift,” she said. “The person being interviewed is providing a gift for their loved ones by spending time documenting their lives for them.”

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.