Ever since I published my memoir, SETTLEMENT HOUSEGIRL: Growing Up in the 1950s at North East Neighborhood House, Minneapolis,Minnesota, people have been asking if it is available as an audio book. Now it is! When you go to the Amazon page for the audio book you can click to hear a sample of the text—the opening and first chapter. I think you will be surprised by how good it sounds. The narration is by computer generated voice generation. At first, I wasn’t sure that I wanted my book read by a computer, but I am pleased with the result. I had a choice of ten different voices to use as the narrator, and while editing the audio text I was able to correct (most of) the errors in pronunciation. (Names often proved to be difficult.)
I was motivated to turn SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL into an
audio book because I discovered that more and more people now prefer audio
books. In our busy world, where it is hard to find time to sit down and read a
book, an audio book makes it possible to do two things at once—to listen to a
book while driving, taking a walk, working in the garden, cooking, etc. Audio
books are also ideal for people whose sight is failing and find it difficult to
read printed text.
The audio version of SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL includes
the Preface and the 38 chapters of the book, but does not include the back
matter. SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL is illustrated with historical photos, usually
one at the beginning of each chapter. The audio narration includes the captions
for these photos.
Note: You can also find an audio version of my father's memoir, SHADOWS ON A WALL: Autobiographical Writings of Lester Lewis Scheaffer, on Amazon. See my post on this blog for November 2, 2026.
