I met Gwen Hunter a little over a year ago when she came to my memoir-writing class at the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead Museum near St. George, Ontario. At 83, Gwen had a lot of stories to tell, like how she reinvented herself in her early 70s and became a school bus driver. But Gwen wasn’t sure she was a “writer”.

I knew Gwen had some good stories that I was sure others would find interesting and so I started her on a structured and thematic course of prompts and memoir-writing tips to begin her memoir-writing journey. She was joined by several other women and through their support and sharing of their stories, the scene was set. A year later, Gwen published her first book, Grandma Gwen Drives a School Bus, a collection of 11 heart-warming tales that will appeal to anyone who’s waved their children off to school, ridden on, waited for, or driven a school bus.

Gwen’s memoir-writing journey is proof that you don’t have to be a “writer” to write your stories. And, you’re never too old to start.

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