Mary Bonner
Class: 1984
[profile]

When my son John lost his tooth at the beach, we all looked everywhere. No tooth. Finally we traced a message to the tooth fairy in the sand. Sure enough, the tooth fairy found John and delivered a dollar bill.

Our family had told that story for years before I included the family memory in a FamilyStories book on children losing their teeth. The story is just the kind of anecdote I am looking for as editor and researcher for FamilyStories—an activity-based series of projects and books for families.

You can dip in and out of them and find something different every time. We like to say that none of the books are ever really finished because they lead you to the Web site where you share your own story.

The stories submitted each day at www.familystories.org find their way to my desk before they appear in the FamilyStories books and on the fledgling XM Satellite radio program.

We gather stories and experiences from families all over the world about topics that are common for all of us, like a child losing a tooth or what it takes to get kids to bed at night. We appreciate the fact that there are endless ways of approaching these topics, and we ask families what they do and what they say.

My Story

My own family story includes growing up in a military family before I enrolled at College of Notre Dame. Notre Dame is the first place I ever lived for four years at one address, so maybe that’s why it always feels like home to me.

After graduating as an English major from College of Notre Dame, I worked in the College's admissions office before taking a position as a marketing copywriter for Waverly Press. I think my English major provided me with both a practical and wonderful philosophic foundation for my career. I learned strong skills of reading, writing, and editing.

After serving for six years as the National Aquarium's publications manager, I left full-time work in 1992 to stay home with my family, while pursuing a freelance writing career.

One of my freelance clients was Susan Magsamen, the creator of Curiosity Kits, a series of hands-on learning activities for children. By the time Ms. Magsamen sold that business and founded FamilyStories in Hunt Valley, Md., I was ready to return to full-time work. When my youngest child started school, it coincided perfectly with the beginning of FamilyStories.

Variety of narratives

In my role, I develop publications for all facets of FamilyStories. The books are available in Barnes & Noble stores and other retailers, and they are now working on a travel project for the National Geographic Society. FamilyStories explores a variety of topics, from bedtime traditions, to celebrations of Christmas and Hanukkah, from dealing with divorce to school experiences.

There are really no subjects that are off-limits in family life. Each of the books begins with an outline of the facts on the subject. In the tooth fairy book, for example, I included research on how teeth grow, why they fall out and healthy dental habits. Another section included artistic or cultural information, such as a Japanese poem about losing teeth, followed by the centerpiece of the book—the anecdotes themselves, each in the contributor’s own words.

What's really surprising about it is how quick people are to grasp the idea of something that is essentially very new and different. People are so eager to hear the stories of other families. There’s a very beautiful phenomenon that happens when they look through one of our books or listen to one of our programs. Somebody smiles and says, "You'll never believe what my mom used to tell me about the tooth fairy."