Daniel Brennan

I spent fifteen years as a reporter for a local New Jersey paper, covering town council meetings, high school sports and, my favorite, the obituaries. Writing those taught me that every life is full of stories nobody wrote down while there was still time to ask.

Now I sit down with seniors and get those stories on the record. I am good at the follow up question: what did the boss say, what did the factory smell like, what did your mother do when the letter came. Plenty of my clients worked at plants and offices around Essex County or served overseas, and I like to bring a map or an old newspaper clipping to get things going. Every visit is recorded on a small audio recorder, and I send the household a short written summary within two days.

I live in West Orange, not far from the Edison museum, with my wife and two teenagers who are tired of my questions.

If you want something to hold, I edit the transcripts into a short printed book with your photos, bound at a shop in West Orange. Families give copies at holidays.