An elegant legacy item to love for generations
Testimonial 1: Family Tales for Remembering
Client: Fiona, Craig and Ren
Book: Lyn & Des
Context: Commissioned by Fiona and her brothers to remember their late parents. Love ones received a copy at Desmond’s wake. A copy was also provided to his retirement village.
“Between April and November 2022, Christian from Family Tales collaborated with me and my brothers to create a beautiful book of memories about our parents. He patiently interviewed various family and friends, drawing out fond anecdotes and crafting them into lively stories. The tales were later illustrated with photographs from our collections plus gorgeous drawings by Kate.
“The initial intention had been to make a book for Dad, as he was living with slow-progressing Alzheimer’s and we wanted to help him remember his time with Mum who had passed away several years earlier. My oldest brother then had the idea of the book also becoming a treasured archive to be handed down through the generations, giving our children and their descendants a glimpse of their ancestors’ personalities. To that end we decided to add a family tree with associated photographs to the end of the book, allowing us to trace family resemblances through 6 generations. Sadly Dad’s health failed quite suddenly and he passed away during the final stages of the project, however during his last days he enjoyed listening to me read the stories to him. Since I received my copy of the book my teenage son has been paging through it with fascination. A number of family and friends have also bought or been gifted copies.
“Throughout the project Christian’s kindness, enthusiasm, skill and flexibility made the collaboration an enjoyable one. He seemed to get as much fun out of hearing the stories as we did sharing them. I’d highly recommend working with Family Tales if you too would like to capture memories in a manner that brings your loved ones to rich and nuanced life for time immemorial.”
- Fiona
Testimonial 2: Family Tales for Thanking
Client: Jason
Book: Brick by Brick: The Life and Accomplishments of Lim Ting Hin
Context: A surprise birthday present for Jason’s father. Interviews were conducted over Zoom with friends and family in Sydney, Malaysia, and Philippines. The book was bound in red leather with gold lettering and included stories to help Jason’s daughter learn about her Grand Father.
“Christian was a joy to work with - patient in his demeanour and meticulous in his work. He will walk along side you to explore ideas and refine stories. Along the way you will capture memories, gain perspectives, and end with a product which is truly special.”
- Jason
Testimonial 3: Family Tales for Communicating
Client: enkel collective
Book: Enkel is…
Context: Shortly after an article on Family Tales was featured in the Fremantle Herald, I was contacted by Adam, co-founder of the enkel Collective, who thought our approach would be perfect for communicating what enkel is about to the broader community.
“We've always struggled to explain what we're doing and are trying to achieve with enkel, especially how to distil it down to something that people outside the collective can understand. Christian has been very valuable in moving forward in this endeavour. Working with him on the book has helped us make sense of our time together and how our individual past experiences and backgrounds shaped a unique community. In bringing all these diverse stories together with photos and beautiful illustrations the book is a fantastic portrait of the first enkel decade. If you want help to tell a story with many nuances and layers, I highly recommend engaging Family Tales!”
- Adam (co-founder of enkel)
Testimonial 4: Family Tales for Celebrating
Client: Patricia and Helen
Book: The Sheep Shearers
Context: As young men from different backgrounds, Ian and Allan became mates in the shearing sheds, married each others sister, and went on to share a lifetime of adventures and antics. Now, a half-century later, those same sisters, Patricia and Helen, thought it was time to celebrate the lifelong friendship of these two remarkable men. The book is leather-bound to last and features a magnificent family tree, over thirty illustrated stories for the kids and grandkids to enjoy, and fascinating research on the colourful characters Ian and Allan met along the way.
“My sister-in-law and I decided to have a book written for our husbands about their long lasting friendship of over 50 years. Dr Mauri was approached and agreed to our request. Over the ensuing months, Christian interviewed both our husbands and family members - no easy task as they are scattered far and wide! Christian was able to capture the spirit of our men and kept us informed along the whole process. His research skills were extremely comprehensive. I would not hesitate to encourage anyone wishing to have their story put into words and made into a beautiful book to contact Christian.”
- Patricia
“I heard Christian talk about Family Tales at the UWA forum on social ageing and immediately knew that we needed to engage him to write the story of the lifelong friendship of my brother Ian and my husband Allan. I was impressed with the process as much as the final product. Christian didn't let us down. We had a year of family fun, great reminiscing and 'belly laughs', plus multiple copies of an historical book to give our sons, daughters and grandchildren. 'The Sheep Shearers' will make a great Australian movie!”
- The Hon. Helen Morton
