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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1973)
Word-Portraits capture life story By JAMES RUSSELL Of the Emerald GREATEST SELECTION ANYWHERE1 i 10 PER GENT^ CASH DISCOUNTS To Students and Faculty on purchases of SI.00 or more! i ( ART and^ ARCHITECTURES SUPPLIES Mon-Thurs 9 to 5: 30 Fridays - 9 to 7 p.m <>at. 9:30 to 1:30V 3 39 € A S T HfVfNTH EASY PAKK'NG at g £ A B Phyllis Benbow, free-lance writer and a self-proclaimed ‘idealist’, is enthusiastic about a new idea called Word-Portraits which she says could offer a piece of immortality to all who possess them. Benbow hopes to make her ‘invention’ a household word. “I’m enthusiastic about this project as our affluent society allows me to be,” she says. “The idea may not become as popular as the camera but it will be copied. We thought radio would go out when TV came in but it didn’t so there’s just no telling.” The Word-Portraits are based on the premise that every in dividual is interesting, says Benbow, who was once religion editor on the defunct Los Angelas Times-Mirror. Putting this premise to work, she has established an entirely new profession—writing biographies for the common man. “Word-Portraits are the capturing of a life story in words for the family and friends of loved ones to treasure for 30 East Broadway Eugene For Your Diamonds Watches Jewelry and Repair Needs See BRISTOW'S at the Broadway 20 pet off on all rings to students. GALLO PINK. CHABUS OF CALIFORNIA ; Mon than a Rose, our Pink Chablis is a captivating m combining the delicate fragrance of a superior Rm mi the crisp character of a fine Chablis. This wine is <w dour most delightful creations. Made and bottled at the Cello Vineyards in Modesto, Calif. Alcohol 12% by d (2J\JxHJk TIME Magazine reports: 'Gallo’s Pink Chablis recently triumphed over ten costlier competitors in a blind tasting among a panel of wine-industry executives in Los Angeles." Time Magazine November 27. 1972 page 81 More than a Rose. PINK CHABLIS of CALIFORNIA- Gallo Vineyards. Modesto. California Phyllis Benbow generations to come,” sht says. The immortality she offer lies not in extra years of actual life, but rather in words “Thank God we’ve got in dividualists and common people in this world,” Benbow relates. “There’s nobody really unim portant in this world, and it’s time people came down to that realization.” “The idea hits you hard when you stop to think that there’s a possibility that nobody is going to put flowers on your grave,” she says. “It really makes you think...” The Word-Portrait market should be primarily in the over 50 age bracket, although Benbow says their use “accelerates down through the young-marrieds, the singles, and teens until maximum use is in the pre-school and yet-to-be-borns." “I write what I see,” she says. “But I make no interpretations. The story is as the person tells it. I am careful to be a mirror that is sensitive to every light and shadow, but not to intrude.” Right now, Benbow stresses, “I need five writers from this area to help with five initial Word Portraits which will serve as samples for Meier and Frank,” who have expressed interest in marketing the idea in the Nor thwest. She envisions Word-Portraits becoming a new form of status symbol, possibly equalling or surpassing the status value of oil portraits. The potential job market which might develop because of Word Portraits is another important asset involved with the idea, Benbow says. “Who we are is the most im portant thing about us, not what we know,” she says. “Word Portraits try to capture a piece of each of us. They preserve it for generations to come. People want to be remembered and loved as much as everyone else, and when you start to get older, people start to think about that.” That’s one of the reasons that Benbow wants to get young writers involved with her idea, “they’re so alive, so im pressionable, so vibrant,” she says. “If we can teach them a little bit about those around them, how it’s important to remember and care about those you love or love you then everyone might be a little bit better off.” Interested writers or subjects should contact Benbow at P.O. Box T, Springfield, Oregon, 97477. -I CREATIVE PRINTING YOU CREATE WE PRINT 44 IBM COPIES CVERNIGHT SERVICE 100 OFFSET CORES SE.BB cJol\nny' cPrint copy shop 1219 ALDER / EUGENE, OREGON 97401 / 345-4141
