On a personal level, I recall how warmly John welcomed every single “delegate” at the conferences. As if we were all members of his large family. His engaging smile. He was skilled at organizing and enlisting participation. John played a big part in setting up a context of mutual interest, support, and camaraderie...and fun. 

I have fond memories of my first conference in NY in 1999. My first meeting with John Kunz, as I said, our shared interest in integrating reminiscence and cognitive-behavior approach, particularly in the intervention on depression. The relatively large group of participants from Japan, around Toyoko Nomura, impressed me. The highlight of that conference for me: the very animated debate on the importance of research in reminiscence and life story work, regarding the question of efficacy of interventions, with Pam Schweitzer giving her counterpoint. The stay at the New Yorker Hotel. The guided walking tour of the Lower East Side. 

The atmosphere of this conference was unique and contrasted with that of larger conferences like GSA or APA. Given the limited number of participants and presentations, we were together for most activities for two intense days. This allowed for personal interactions, and development of mutual interest and support across domains of interest and disciplines.

"One memory/feeling I can share is my sense of excitement about being invited to the first conference in Wisconsin. I couldn't believe that anyone had even heard of me (I had 1 publication at the time!) and remember being amazed that the ENTIRE conference was to be about reminiscence! The feeling that there was this hidden community of researchers/practitioners who were engaged in, and interested in pursuing, reminiscence work was very empowering. I stayed in student residence (I had no travel funds) the first conference and walked to the center and just seeing 100 people milling about who ALL wanted to talk about the same subject was extremely invigorating. Afterwards, one certainly felt that continuing research in the area would be very rewarding and productive."

Student Members