In short, an Audio Time Capsule is a service provided by Life Writers where one’s voice and life stories are recorded and preserved with a private personal interview.

Written memoirs dedicate hundreds of pages describing the person’s life stories and past experiences, but there are certain things that words on a page do not capture. Such as the sound of one’s voice. The way they laugh. The way they talk. The way they pronounce (and mispronounce) certain words, and the way their accent carries through. (And yes, everybody’s got an accent to somebody.)

My uncle had recently passed away at age 92. About a year prior to his passing, I had the pleasure of capturing his life story with an interview on the back deck of his mountain home in Idyllwild, California.

The audio recording is almost three hours long – him telling his life stories, laughing at his own past experiences, while blue jays and chickadees chirped in the background. I wanted to get this recording of my (now deceased) uncle onto thumb drives and send copies to his closest friends and family.

While listening to this recording, I thought to myself – wow, nobody talks like this anymore. And nobody I know sounds like my uncle Bud – with his own unique deep voice, timeless expressions, and quirky sayings. (I mean, who would? He was born in 1930.) And he had his own unique laugh too.

That’s when I realized, everything I just mentioned is not conveyed with a book. I could write a thousand words trying to describe the way he laughs, but I could never accurately do it justice with words on a page – not like listening to a 10-second audio clip of his actual laughter.

That is when I realized the importance and preciousness of that audio recording. I had captured and preserved his voice and life stories and can now listen to it and share it with those that would really appreciate hearing Bud’s voice (and boy did the family appreciate it!) Bud had always been a great storyteller.

And so the concept of the Audio Time Capsule was born. Writing a book takes several weeks. Capturing someone’s life story with an audio recording can be done in several hours while being just as effective and powerful – if not more.  

“How many of these stories remain unshared? Forgotten? And ultimately lost through time? To those who have stories to share, share them. . . so that your story, and a piece of you really, lives on.”

– Holly Salsman

When someone dies, their stories go with them. Unless you make the time and effort to preserve them. Whether through a written memoir, a recorded interview, or simply with videos on your smartphone, make it a conscious effort to record and preserve those you love most. Because we never know when it’s our time to go.  

– Johnny Wilson, Co-Founder of Life Writers