08/19/2026
Beth and Herstory’s founder, Erika Duncan, met at Herstory's first writing circle and their relationship grew into a lifelong partnership and love, spanning three decades. Their lives became deeply intertwined with the evolution of Herstory and with the belief that sharing our memories can change how we understand ourselves and one another.
Erika writes:
"Today I am writing for Beth, without whom Herstory and my own life would not have been the same. I celebrate our journey, together shaping an organization and sharing the experiences of writing a memoir in a circle of listeners. I am writing for the woman who taught me what the sharing of memories can be, and how to put it together into a "telling" that can live in the world.
I am writing for the many whose paths crossed with Beth's, whose memoirs grew out of discussions with her about shaping and form, talking about how memory worked, about the trauma she experienced, and the trauma that so many are experiencing now. She taught me that no matter how much we share, our memories and the tales that we tell ourselves and others are ultimately our own. That is the wonder and the beauty, but also the sorrow, as we relegate our own truths to the page and leave it to others, those hungry or indifferent readers to remake them in their own memory banks and hearts."
May Beth's spirit live on, interwoven through the legacy of Herstory and her words.
