Editorial: Tales are there to be told

Alison Brown wants to hear your story.

They say everyone has a novel inside them. While I'm not sure that's true, lesson one on day one of journalism school was that everyone does indeed have a story to tell.

Most of the time, they just don't know it.

Alison Brown wants to hear your story. She's putting together a follow-up to her first book Rotorua RETROone, aptly named Rotorua RETROtwo, and needs residents to share their early memories of life in Rotorua.

Social history - the experiences of ordinary people in the past - is a fascinating branch of history.

It's all very well to read about when a building was built, what year a prime minister was elected or how many people died in a disaster.

But what makes those events interesting and engaging, especially for children, is the effect those events had on ordinary people. What was it like to live through them?

It's your memory of the day that building opened - was there fanfare, did you get to wear your best dress, did the band play?

The cheers, or boos, when that prime minister was elected and the way your father shook his head in disgust.

The shock and terror you felt when you heard about or even witnessed that disaster.

That's what brings history alive.

You may have plenty of tales tucked away you thought no one would be interested in. Why not write them down, or share them with your family?

Not only could you help document Rotorua's history, you may just impress the grandkids as well.