Recovering Lost Contexts and the 'Sweetness of Hearts'

Anyone in the habit of keeping journals––as I have been for many years––has probably noticed the advantage they provide when the need arises to confirm specific incidents or meetings from the past. Writers of memoir, biography, and autobiography in particular can appreciate such leverage.

The habit of journaling becomes especially useful when looking back and discovering that you were part of an extraordinary occasion, or associated with an exceptional individual, that you somehow failed to...