March 12, 2015 (Sun Valley, Idaho) —

In 2006 I had the opportunity to spend about a week at the Ford Presidential Library on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, with a side trip over to the Museum in Grand Rapids. Most of that time was spent transitioning the work that my friend, David Maria, and I had done involving the redesign of the Library and Museum website…see http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/about-this-site.asp. The site that David and I created, a Webby Award and W3 Award honored website, has since been re-desgned again.

During my time at the Library I was asked to record an oral history…reminiscing on tape (while going through photos) with the assistance of Ken Hafeli of the Library staff. The 4 hours of recordings were later transcribed into 30 typed pages…memories I am now using, along with other “helps”, in the process of writing a book.

A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to speak with Ken again and he quickly recalled our time together nine years ago. We discussed the Library’s digital archives, photos and documents as they would relate to my project, and plans I am making for a return trip. As funds become available through our GoFundMe campaign, I will spend another week or more back at the Library and Museum doing research for the book.

Ken followed up our phone conversation with an email and I wanted to share part of what he wrote with you…

“It was great to talk to you today. From what you and I talked about during the interview so long ago I believe you have the makings of a very interesting book.”

— Kenneth G. Hafeli, Audiovisual Archivist, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library