A Grandpas Not | Page 3

ETEXTS*END*
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A Grandpa's Notebook, by Meyer Moldeven Copyright (C) 2000

Meyer Moldeven. All rights reserved. Permission is herewith granted to
private individuals, intergenerational programs, senior centers, and
public and nonprofit entities to freely reproduce all or portions of this
text for noncommercial purposes.

**This is a COPYRIGHTED Project Gutenberg Etext, Details
Above**

This Project Gutenberg Etext prepared by Meyer Moldeven
[email protected]

A Grandpa's Notebook
Ideas, models, stories and memoirs to encourage intergenerational
outreach and communication.
Meyer Moldeven

Copyright © 2000 Meyer Moldeven. All rights reserved. Permission is
herewith granted to private individuals, intergenerational programs,
senior centers, and public and nonprofit entities to freely reproduce all
or portions of this text for noncommercial purposes.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
PART ONE: WE LEARN FROM EACH OTHER
Too-Faraway Grandparents First Letter to a Distant Grandchild
Too-Faraway Grandparent How My Stories Began Family History
Scroll What's In It for You? Picture Postcards Grandparent's Role
Grandpa Too Far Think a Story Story Openers Grandparent-Grandchild
Interview Create an Heirloom Catalogue Values and Traditions Living
History Folk Tales Turn-the-page Stories Record Your Albums No
Answers Recapture the Spark Grandparents in the Virtual Classroom
Show-and-Tell Expert Don't Just Ride Off Into the Sunset
PART TWO: FIRST STORIES
Grandpa Takes a Walk Dooby and Katrinka Have an Idea Circus
Adventure The Dinosaur's Nest Dinosaurs? Having a Birthday Party?

Leah and Her Family Meeting
PART THREE: THE PALM TREE STORIES
Put Palm Trees in Your Stories Along the Ridge of the Dunes Gone
Sailing Dolphins Alongside Snug Harbor Hike Visit with Two Seals
Noises in the Night The Little Old Man's Strange Story The Same Tale:
And then... Still the Same Story: What a Finish!
PART FOUR: REACH FOR THE STARS, GRANDPA!
A Bagel? In Space? Stobey and Slutter Fly to Super-Rock Playground
Swinging from a Star Visitors from Planet Earth Sir Lumpalot and
Kick-Pow Into the Stranger's House Bingbang Babbaloo Battles
Burpers
PART FIVE: LORE, MYTHS AND MEMOIRS
Stories to the World C'mon, Man, It's Only a Safety Pin! Memoir: The
Parachute Rigger (World War Two) Memoir: Parachute Logistics
(Korean War) Memoir: Logistics Planner (Cold War) Memoir: Suicide
Prevention (Viet Nam Era)

Media Reviews of Author's Previous Editions
BOOKLIST; November 15, 1987 (Book Evaluation Journal of the
American Library Association)
Moldeven, a 70-year old grandfather turned author and publisher, sets a
wonderful example and shares many practical lessons on keeping in
touch with grandchildren in these times of mobile families. When it is
impossible to see or talk to grandchildren as often as one would like,
Moldeven suggests writing them stories. His book offers general tips
on getting started along with 25 sample stories. The author emphasizes
simplicity and imagination in the creation of plots and illustrations. For
grandparents who lack confidence in their writing or picture-making
abilities, Moldeven suggests working with photographs or magazine
pictures and devising custom-made stories from classic fables or folk
tales. This encouraging, easy-to-read guide for grandparents (near and
faraway) can also be used as a resource for senior citizen's projects.
The Rocky Mount Evening & Sun Telegram, August 23, 1987 Rocky
Mount, North Carolina
This book was written for grandparents, primarily; but parents and
kindergarten and primary teachers will find the techniques and stories
of value in relating to young children.... This supremely useful work,

while designed for the too-far away relative, offers exciting
possibilities for intergenerational communication, even if the family is
settled in one community, next door, or even in the same house. It has
the additional virtue of promoting activities that encourage the
grandchild toward reading and writing skills, strengthening ties, and
establishing values, easily taught through family history and traditions.'

Introduction

There are more than 60 million grandparents in the United States and
their numbers are increasing as a portion of the general population.
Enormous changes have taken place in longevity and lifestyles since
today's older adults were, themselves, young grandchildren. Experts
estimate that there are thirty to fifty thousand living centenarians, up
from the 1980 estimate of fifteen thousand. Also, centenarians are not
as feeble as they once were; disability rates among older people have
been falling since the early 1980s.
Life expectancy at birth in the United States has increased nearly 30
years since the turn of the century, from 47 to about 76. On the other
hand, families are more widely dispersed, successful interaction by
grandparents with their distant grandchildren, whether for geographic
reasons or barriers of circumstance, increasingly calls for innovation
and improvisation.
A vast store of practical knowledge as well as a culture's lore
languishes in almost every family, especially among its elders, more
than ready to be passed along to succeeding generations. An important
source for