Gregory J. Leeson
The Life Chronicler

​At a time when Americans feel more divided from each other than ever, Gregory Leeson offers a message and a methodology of hope.  People find common ground through storytelling, Leeson shows us, for it is nearly impossible to dismiss, let alone hate, another person once you have come to know their story.  Leeson clocked over 26,000 miles on his intrepid travels across the United States (and Canada), conducting extensive life-story interviews with people he met along the way.  In this remarkable volume, he translates those unwieldy narratives into concise and riveting accounts that depict the many-splendored variation of contemporary American lives, as well as shared understandings and common ground.  More than anything else, Leeson knows how to listen to people with humility and grace.  We all need to learn how to do the same.

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Dan P. McAdams, Ph.D.

The Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Psychology, Northwestern University

 

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Gregory Leeson has done something many of us only dream about doing in our later years. Setting out on the quintessential road trip, he has crisscrossed the continent, listened in-depth to people from all walks of life, and woven their stories into this assessable, edifying volume, one worth taking the time to read.

 

William L. Randall, Ed.D.

Visiting Fellow, Emmanuel College, Cambridge University