Wesley, it's interesting you should ask.

The way I got into the project: I knew the director from when she had rented from me years ago. One day this spring I ran into her on the street and told her that I had an idea I'd like to pursue, that I would like to talk to various patrons of the shelter and see if they would be up to entrusting their lives to a recording. We would take as long as the person wanted and eventually I would type the disc into the computer and give the person a print out of their lives. The idea being, although I wouldn't tell them that, that they could read it and see where they made the choices that brought them to where they are today.

Mariya said, Great! You're just the person I need for a project..

As for making copies available, I'll have to wait on that. Although each of the names will be changed in the final edit, at this point it is very much the story of each of those men - and four women.

Women, I think, are more cautious than men - at least to a woman. Men are probably less threatened by a woman questioner. One of the comments I treasure is when one man told me: I haven't talked this much in years.

I have far more material on hand than I used - and even then it used 17 printed pages!

I will be going back for my original project.