15 Comments
User's avatar
Catherine Lent's avatar

I love pickles … and memoirs, and I’ll be particularly interested to read about your personal iterations of self when I’m able to.

Also… curious… do you have Penner relations in Laurel, MT? Not sure how common a name it is… but it sure is perfect for a writer!

Expand full comment
Andi Penner's avatar

Hi, Catherine. Thank you for being interested in the memoir. I like the word "iterations." I'll be thinking about that this week! Um, Penner... it's a Mennonite surname, and I married into it decades ago--one of my iterations--and kept it even after the marriage ended--in part, because, as you say, it's a perfect name for a writer! I am the one who pens.....or something like that.

Expand full comment
Catherine Lent's avatar

ah, fascinating, I did not know the name before! I appreciate the info and a little peek into your backstory. She who pens! :)

Expand full comment
Michele M Potter's avatar

Oh, Thank You! Since I'm in a similar place with writing my intergenerational history, knowing who my reader is/might be is both critical and daunting. Nice to have company since we're in the same "pickle."

Expand full comment
Andi Penner's avatar

As a tech writer/editor, I lived by the mantra "your message will go unheard unless you know your audience and purpose." And I stand by that. But somehow it seems more challenging with memoir. Here's to our respective pickle jars!

Expand full comment
Deborah Garcia's avatar

Given my absent holiday enthusiasm, I’ve taken on the project of your Dad, however with the convenience of Google docs. A gift from the heart, to all whom I gift a digital key. Turns out I began the endeavor in 2017 & well, had been lost in the landslide.

Creative plait of sweet stories. But I must say, Watta crock! Lol.

Expand full comment
Andi Penner's avatar

My Dad would love the pun!

Expand full comment
Bobby's avatar

We will have to try Grandma Rose's recipe. Lynette makes pickled jalapenos.

Expand full comment
Andi Penner's avatar

Call me when you've got the crock of Kosher dills ready! :) I'm still thinking about that corned beef and sauerkraut sandwich I had in Dallas, with kosher dill on the side. And the poppyseed pastry!

Expand full comment
Amanda McQuade's avatar

Hi, Andi,

I am so excited for you. You have been writing with intention and authenticity for all the years I have known you. This culmination, your memoir, is a worthy accomplishment. I look forward to learning more about your life and the sense that you are making of it now. I’m inspired! Plus, I do love a good pickle.

Expand full comment
Andi Penner's avatar

Thank you! I'll feel more accomplished when it has a publisher who gets it on the shelves of Powell's, Parnassus, and Page One for you to purchase!

Expand full comment
Karen Rand Anderson's avatar

Andi, I love this! What a perfect wrap-up-- "So we apply our whole selves to the task and hope there’s no crack in the pickle crock, no banking institution collapse, and no player who prevents our safe slide home." Inspirational for me as I slog along with my memoir. Great to be connected with you 🙂

Expand full comment
Andi Penner's avatar

Thank you, Karen. Yes, here we are, again. Memoiristas of the world, Unite!

Expand full comment
K A's avatar

loved this piece!

Expand full comment
Andi Penner's avatar

Thank you!

Expand full comment