Q&A WITH JANIS' SIBLINGS, LAURA AND MICHAEL JOPLIN

Q&A WITH JANIS’ SIBLINGS, LAURA AND MICHAEL JOPLIN

- Gillian G. Gaar

GOLDMINE: How did you come up with the idea of re-creating the scrapbook in Days & Summers (Genesis Publications)?

MICHAEL JOPLIN: We had the scrapbook of hers since soon after she had passed away. No one other than us had heard of its existence, much less seen it, for years. We knew it could be interesting and of importance to people, but were unsure to even contemplate how to show it. This task was a huge undertaking, and we didn’t just trust anyone, they had to have a track record of making collectible books of incredible quality and paying attention to details. Genesis does incredible books with incredible quality; why not go with them?

As an outsider, it is interesting to watch a young woman mature in herself, to see what she was keeping, what she was proud of and excited about keeping. And with us knowing she would be sitting down, cutting out the articles, gathering and keeping the items and then meticulously gluing them down in her book so she alone could remember them — it’s all so personal, so true, so human, so real.

LAURA JOPLIN: Sharing Janis’ scrapbook is another way we have to allow Janis to tell her own story. Starting in high school, she began keeping tokens of events she attended and activities where she was involved. From an early age, Janis was an artistic, friendly extrovert. She transposed the things she did into stories to remember. Memorabilia in a scrapbook helped her savor the memories.