Episode 106 – “The Red Leather Diary” by Lily Koppel

When it’s time to choose a book to recommend, I walk my fingers across the memoirs on my shelf, visiting each one like an old friend.

I flip through the pages and see passages I’ve underlined and words I once looked up, triggering memories of past moments.

This month, I’m excited to share The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel, a fascinating story of a forgotten five-year journal found in an old steamer trunk in Manhattan.

Koppel ultimately reunites the five-year journal with the owner, who was given it for her fourteenth birthday in 1929.

This book proves everything I always say about keeping a five-year journal. It’s quick. It’s easy, and it can change your life. It did that for Lily Koppel and Florence Wolfson in some amazing ways.

The holidays are right around the corner, so consider giving someone you love a five-year journal. It is a gift that will give back to him/her year after year after year.

If a loved one is welcoming a new member of the family, gift the new parents Baby’s Five-Year Journal where they can capture the first five years of their little one’s life.

Tell us about your journaling experience, or the lack thereof, in the comments section below.

But whether you journal or not, remember, the only way to do that wrong is to not do it at all.

Until next time, happy writing.

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Judy
6 months ago

My best friend was an avid journalist. I tried to be like her but failed. I have several journal books gathering dust with a few pages written. Along came Patricia’s “Five Year Journal”. I started it in January of this year. It’s on my nightstand and it takes a couple minutes before bedtime to recap my day. I am proud that I’ve been faithful to put in my day’s events on those six lines.

Etya Krichmar
6 months ago

I am a failed again and again journaler. But watching this video, I am tempted to try again. My son’s 40 th birthday is approaching and I have an idea of giving him this book as part of his Bday gift with a challenge to write an entry every day and me doing the same.

Linda Peterson
6 months ago

I have been a journaler(?), on and off, since 1978. The early years were pretty sporadic, often nonexistent. But, for the last almost twenty-

five years, I have kept a journal, recording the highlights and challenges of each day. When my husband, family, and/or friends discuss

something that happened some time ago, I can go to my journals to verify the event or the date it happened.

Etya Krichmar
6 months ago
Reply to  Linda Peterson

So, Linda you are like a judge when it comes to facts.

David Godin
6 months ago

I kept a daily journal during my 2005 deployment to Iraq. One page a day. I’m not sure I want to look at it.

Judy
6 months ago
Reply to  David Godin

I understand Dave, some things are better left in the past.

Etya Krichmar
6 months ago
Reply to  David Godin

Wow, Dave. It is a treasure trove of history.

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