The GAB Gazette— May-June 2026

The GAB Gazette

May-June 2026 Edition

“It's difficult to change overnight but if you are persistent and take one step at a time you will see results!”

Jack LaLanne

You can find previous GAB Gazette editions on our website at: https://thebirrencenter.org/the-gab-gazette

The Gazette is continuously improving in content. Please share your feedback and ideas for future GAB Gazette editions with us at: info@thebirrencenter.org

In this Issue:

Happenings in the World of GAB
Anthology News and Updates
New Courses
Tender Shoots: Anticipation and Hope
Participant Experience: Branching Points
Spotlight On: Alice Roselo
Q and A with Dr. James Birren
Book Corner: Shelf Worthy Books and Podcasts

From the Interim Executive Director

This spring has been a season of building, behind the scenes and across the community. We’ve strengthened our operations and volunteer team structure, and we’ve continued board recruitment and governance planning. At the same time, we’re investing in the future of GAB: fielding the instructor survey to guide strategic priorities; convening a new Curriculum Team; and expanding and improving the certification courses and other workshops we offer. Cheryl has convened an academic advisory board to ensure we never fall far from our roots in Dr. Birren’s work and the many branches of life story work.

You’ll begin to see more visible outreach, including new content on our YouTube channel this summer. Our anthology team is hard at work reviewing submissions, and we’re exploring new partnerships to extend the Birren Center’s reach. It’s steady, intentional progress—aimed at supporting instructors and growing the GAB community.

——————————————————————————-

Instructors: Please Help Shape What Comes Next

A few years ago, many of you shared your experiences as Guided Autobiography instructors. Your input led directly to expanded GAB Chats, new courses, and growth of the Community Hub.

Now we’re listening again. We’ve launched a brief (10-minute) survey to learn:

How you’re using GAB today
What’s working, and where you’re encountering challenges
What support would make the greatest difference

Your responses will inform the Board’s strategic planning. We’ll share a summary of what we learn.

If you’re a certified GAB Instructor and haven’t yet responded, please take the survey:
https://forms.gle/5kvFCz9je2j9iYc77

The survey closes May 30, 2026 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time—don’t miss this chance! Whether you’re actively teaching or not, your perspective matters. A few minutes now will help shape what comes next—for you and for the GAB community.

Sarah White
Interim Executive Director
The Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies

Next GAB Chat
May 20, 2026
4 pm Pacific

Our monthly gatherings, GAB Chats, are designed specifically for Guided Autobiography Instructors across the globe. This initiative aims to foster a supportive community while enhancing our professional work through shared experiences and collaborative learning.

This month’s meeting details:

Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Time: 4:00 pm Pacific Time
Subject: Step Into the Circle
Hosts: Heather Knox & Cheryl Svensson

Activities Fair – Get Involved! Curious about how to deepen your connection to the GAB community? This month’s GAB Chat is designed as an interactive “Activities Fair,” where you can explore meaningful ways to participate, contribute, and connect.

We’ll introduce a range of volunteer teams and initiatives—each offering a different pathway into the community. You’ll hear from leaders and members who are already shaping these efforts, including Julie Feibush on the growing GAB Instructor Writing Groups, and Heidi Thorsen on the Mentor/Mentee program. We’ll also spotlight opportunities with the GAB Gazette, Anthology, and YouTube teams.

This isn’t just about volunteering—it’s about discovering where your interests and energy naturally fit. We will have small-group networking breakouts to help you meet others and explore shared interests.

We hope you will join us!

Register for GAB Chat

You may have missed GAB Chat Review April 15

The beauty of the GAB program is that it is designed to adapt to the needs and modalities of participants and facilitators, which is precisely what the GAB Chat on April 15, 2026, addressed.

Mike Oke, a 34-year veteran from Oxford, England who has guided over 300 life story books through his company Bound Biographies, broke down his deeply relational, one-on-one approach to memoir writing — from ghostwriting to coaching to editing — and even touched on fee structures and marketing. Then Birren Center Interim Executive Director Sarah White shared her own journey into personal history, how she discovered James Birren's work, and the beautiful tradition she's built around ending every project with a book-launch celebration. And if that wasn't enough, Lauren Katz dropped some genuinely fascinating research about how musical and autobiographical memory are stored in areas of the brain not affected by dementia — and how she's using GAB with music in assisted living facilities to help participants reconnect with their own stories in ways other programs simply can't. This chat is proof that GAB isn't one-size-fits-all — it's a framework that bends, stretches, and grows with every facilitator who picks it up.

Watch the full recording below — you don't want to miss this one.

Watch It Here

Are you using the Birren Center’s published anthologies in your marketing and teaching? An anthology makes a great leave-behind when you meet with an organization about offering a GAB workshop. Students appreciate seeing what other GAB students and instructors have written; bring copies to your workshops to lend or give away.

As Dr. Birren wrote in Telling the Stories of Life through Guided Autobiography, “…shared stories remind others of additional events, people, and experiences in their own lives.”

The memory-priming that occurs when reading anthology essays is quite effective. Make sure you’re using the Birren Center’s anthologies to enhance your GAB practice!

Purchase any of the Anthologies

Workshops Coming in Summer 2026

Find Your Students, Fill Your Classes

Ready to grow your GAB workshops? This six-week, hands-on course helps you move from uncertainty to action. You’ll build a clear six-month Marketing Action Plan, craft your elevator pitch, and create materials you can use right away—all with step-by-step guidance. Designed for certified GAB instructors who want more confidence and clarity in promoting their classes, the next workshop begins July 10.
Contact Sarah White at to reserve your seat or to learn more.

GAB In Progress

The GAB Chat on March 18 brought an exciting new idea to the community — and it's one that could completely transform what participants walk away with after class. Gonny Gutierrez and Shelia Merkel, co-founders of LIFEazine, introduced their concept of turning written reflections into a stunning 24-page Life Story Magazine — combining stories, photos, and design into a keepsake participants can treasure and share long after the course ends. Facilitators can use it as an included tuition feature, an optional upgrade, an alumni offering, or simply a way to add excitement and boost participation. The response from attendees was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, and the momentum didn't stop there.

This summer, Gonny and Shelia are bringing that vision to life with GAB to Gorgeous: A Simple System to Bring GAB Stories to Life — a hands-on 2-part workshop open to the entire GAB community. Whether you're new to GAB or a seasoned facilitator, you'll walk away with a finished example, a repeatable system, and a whole new way to enhance your courses. No design experience needed.

The workshop will be held Thursday, June 18 & 25, from 1:00-3:30pm ET

Register now to reserve your spot https://templates.lifeazine.com/b/gab-to-gorgeous

Propose a Workshop

Do you know that anyone can propose a workshop to be sponsored by the Birren Center? If your proposal is accepted, the Birren Center will:

Promote your workshop through our website, GAB Gazette, and social media
Connect you with a large community of life story writers
Share workshop revenue with instructors

You don’t have to be a certified GAB Instructor to propose a workshop. Find out more on our website:

https://thebirrencenter.org/workshop-proposal-info

GAB Summit October 2026

______________

Building on the success of the 2024 GAB Summit, Elizabeth Johnston will host the GAB Online Summit 2026, a three-day global virtual event that showcases the power, versatility, and therapeutic depth of Guided Autobiography.

This year’s theme:

Story as Transformation: Stories that Connect Us
Community - Relationships - Shared Humanity

______________

Be part of the story.
Presenters, panelists, and attendees — details coming this summer.

Tender Shoots: Anticipation and Hope

By Alice Roselo

Spring does not rush. It softens the ground first. It waits. It trusts that something unseen is growing beneath the soil.

There are also new themes available.

Read More

GAB in Argentina: Celebrating Second Chances

On the afternoon of April 25, 2026, the anthology Second Chances was presented at the Tertulia bookstore in Don Torcuato, Argentina. The collection features three powerful pieces by participants in Guided Autobiography (GAB) workshops in Argentina: Lesley Bennett (How Circumstances and Necessity Demanded What I Do Today), Mara Vázquez (Reborn), and Martín Richard (Spine).

Pictured at the event (left to right) are Liliana Weisbek, Certified GAB Instructor in Argentina, along with Lesley Bennett and Martín Richard.

The gathering brought together nearly 50 attendees for an engaging and heartfelt discussion. The audience responded with great interest, and the anthology received a warm reception with all copies sold.

This special event reflects the continued vitality of GAB in Argentina, where workshops will carry on throughout 2026.

Spotlight On

Alice Gaddi Roselo: Golden Threads and Second Springs

One only needs to read Alice Gaddi Roselo’s essay “Prescription: Hope” in the Birren Center’s Second Chances anthology to appreciate the grace and humanity which she brings to the GAB community.

Read More

A Series of Q & A with Dr. Birren

As our founder and friend through GAB, Dr. James Birren had many words of wisdom to share with GAB instructors. Through an online Q & A series with Dr. Cheryl Svensson during her GAB online instructor training sessions from 2010 to 2015, he answered questions from GAB instructors. You may find that you have similar questions. His answers are as relevant and helpful today as they ever were. This is the seventh installment in a series devoted to the Birren Q & A.

Photo of Dr. Birren

With gratitude for Dr. Birren’s long and productive life … here are some of his thoughts on GAB and aging.

Question for Dr. Birren: Can you recall the "seeds" of GAB? The time, place, or experience that inspired your idea to explore and formulate this method?

Dr. Birren’s Answer: I taught a Psychology of Aging summer course at the University of Hawaii in the 1970s. It included retired faculty and students. They were assigned a topic to write about each day. The class was quiet and non-responsive. One day I told them to go home, write two pages on a branching point in their lives, be prepared to read it aloud the next day and that it would not be evaluated. The class came alive. I experienced something that I did not understand. When I returned to USC, I started a seminar class on autobiography with grad students. I knew I was onto something important that I had never experienced before.

Question for Dr. Birren: Which theme do you view as THE most important theme in the GAB approach?

Dr. Birren’s Answer: It depends on the individual’s experiences and how they prime his/her memories, which may have been forgotten or repressed. It varies from individual to individual. There is no ONE most important theme.

Question for Dr. Birren: Are there advantages of approaching the writing of a life story through autobiography rather than launching into a larger personal history project?

Dr. Birren’s Answer: I don’t know how to compare the two. Tell your life story in a group and your memories are sharpened when you hear the stories from the others. “Oh, that’s what happened to you.” That is so different

Professor Emeritus James E. “Jim” Birren, the founding dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and an aging-research pioneer considered by many to be the father of modern gerontology, passed away on January 15, 2016, at the age of 97. Remembering James E. Birren

Shelf-Worthy: This Edition’s Top Picks

Eightysomethings: A Practical Guide to Letting Go, Aging Well, and Finding Unexpected Happiness By Katharine Etsy, PhD

This invaluable guide will help the historical number of eighty-somethings live fulfilled, happy lives long into their twilight years.

Old age is not what it used to be. For the first time ever, most people in the United States are living into their eighties. The first guide of its kind, Eightysomethings changes our understanding of old age with an upbeat and emotionally savvy view of the uncharted territory of the last stage of life. With insight and humor, Dr. Katharine Esty describes the series of dramatic and difficult transitions that eighty-somethings usually experience and how, despite their losses, they so often find themselves unexpectedly happy.

Reviewer’s Note: This is a book not just for those who are in their eighties but for their families and friends as well. At the end of each chapter is a series of questions for eighty-somethings to consider, and, just as importantly, there are questions the families can ask to encourage honest discussions and to understand what it is like to be eighty.

Fast-Draft Your Memoir: Write Your Life Story in 45 Hours by Rachael Herron

Fast-Draft Your Memoir is a natural companion for Guided Autobiography facilitators. Its core philosophy - write fast, silence your inner critic, get the story down - mirrors the generative spirit of GAB, where the goal is to capture authentic life experience rather than craft polished prose.

Facilitators will find practical strategies to share with participants who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or convinced their story "isn't interesting enough". The 45-hour framework also reinforces something the GAB community already knows: Everyone has a story worth telling, and the best way to find it is to just start writing

The Memoir Revolution Blog

If you've ever felt like you were watching life from the outside looking in, Jerry Waxler's Memory Writers Network was made for you. Over the course of twenty years and 450+ essays, Jerry has done something quietly remarkable — he's used memoir as a lens to understand what it actually means to be human.

Equal parts book reviews, author interviews, and personal reflection, his blog is a masterclass in how reading and writing life stories can crack open your understanding of yourself and everyone around you. Whether you're a memoir lover, a GAB facilitator, or someone who just believes that stories matter, this is a corner of the internet worth getting lost in.

To read more you can find his blog here: https://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/

For the Memoir-Minded: What to Listen to & Why

Podcasts are everywhere—nearly 450,000 active shows in the U.S.—and they’re free, mobile, and available on demand, making them ideal for busy GAB instructors. We’ve gathered memoir and writing podcasts offering practical advice and inspiration to support your own writing and the writers you guide. Send us your suggestions: info@thebirrencenter.org

Happy listening.

A Muse's Daydream Podcast - Jill Badonsky

A Muse’s Daydream is a podcast with short, whimsical stories, and poems designed to nurture and inspire your creativity ... and relax you during a rather insane time.

Available at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Buzzsprout, and other podcast platforms.

Reviewer’s Note: Jill Badonksy’s podcasts are short, lyrical, meditative and often humorous vignettes on the creative life ... and life in general. Enjoy anytime you need a break from the stuff that makes you crazy.

Listen Here

Meet the GAB Gazette editorial team, a hardworking group of volunteers who generously give their time and expertise to support the mission of The Birren Center.

The GAB Gazette is a bi-monthly publication from the Birren Center.

GAB Gazette Team

Contributors: Duke Coats, Melissa Coats, Ansley Dauenhauer, Alice Gaddi-Roselo, Roselyn O’Connell, Barbara Smith, Cheryl Svensson, Angela Turner, and Makayla Denbo

“The purpose of our lives is not just about the big leaps we take, it’s also about the small leaps that no one else will ever know about.”
― Laurie E. Smith