FINDING MY VOICE: Simon Kennedy

Welcome to Finding My Voice, Mr. Simon Kennedy

As a working stand-up comedian I’m very used to telling stories, especially in my own voice, literally. When it came to telling my very personal story about the tragic loss of my mother in the 9/11 terror attacks it was not my voice that was hard to come by, but the tone and the detail of life.

Telling a story or joke verbally has the luxury of conveying emotion and characters through vocal changes, face pulling, and the truth that one’s eyes hold. But, as I sat at my keyboard trying to tell my story I had none of this at my disposal. I had to learn to take the reader into my world with none of the tools I’d been so comfortable using for so very long.

When I first started as a stand-up comedian I had to go through the process of finding my voice on stage, just as writers do when they start tapping out their first masterpiece. I did this by getting on stage so often that the environment became natural for me, then when it finally became second nature my real voice started to come through. I found my voice on stage through an emotional honesty, that I tried to carry forward when writing 9/11 And The Art Of Happiness.

As I was writing the memoir I virtually adopted two mind sets. One as a sort of “guide to the blind”, talking readers through my world and describing what they cannot see, and the other was as a commentator who let his opinions, emotions and sense of humour sit comfortably on top of his observations. The second part was easy, that’s what I’d been doing for a living for 13 years, the “guide” role required a bit more consideration. These skills I honed with the help of Patti Miller whose Life Writing course at the Writer’s Centre made me focus on those elements as I moved forward. Patti was a wonderful mentor for a first time writer like myself.

I had read quite a few memoirs and autobiographies over the years and the ones that I connected to the most saw the writer admitting their own flaws and mistakes. I promised myself that I’d do my best to keep my ego in the top drawer the best I could. The most autobiographical thing I’d written prior to 9/11 And The Art Of Happiness was my publicity bio, which all comedians have to write at some point. Naturally my bio admits to zero flaws or weaknesses what-so-ever. The memoirs I’d least enjoyed were ones like that, 250 page publicity bios.

All that said and done, writing  9/11 And The Art Of Happiness has been a very rewarding experience. This book has been both “free” therapy and an emotional stock-take that I was not expecting. I felt quite vulnerable waiting for the audiences response to my very personal story but the feedback to date has made it worthwhile.

Happy writing!

 

9/11 and The Art of Happiness: An Australian story
Simon Kennedy

Simon Kennedy’s mum Yvonne was one of 10 Australians to die during the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the only one to die outside of New York, in the attack on the Pentagon. 


On 11 September 2001, Yvonne boarded flight AA77 to begin her return to Australia after completing a much-planned holiday of America.

All passengers on board were killed in the foiled attempt to crash into the Pentagon.

In 9/11 and the Art of Happiness: An Australian Story, local comedian Simon Kennedy remembers his mum and reveals unheard of details about the trauma family members endure in the aftermath of a global terrorist attack. Disbelief mingles briefly with false hope. Airline officials are in constant attention, offering cheques along with solace. Upgrades to fly first class are issued on a regular basis. FBI officials pay cordial visits and invitations constantly flow to official US memorial and anniversary services. 

Political posturing and the outbreak of war make it easy to forget that the real story of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is the sum of the individual family histories that were altered forever within the space of 24 hours. However, for Simon, the aftermath remains and ten years later there is not one hour of the day when Simon is not reminded, in some way, by the media, of the 9/11 attack. 

9/11 and the Art of Happiness is his family story; a thoughtful, reflective and, at times, amusing memoir about the life-changing impact a global political event has on the individuals and their families who are caught in the maelstrom.

Booktopia (paperback)
Amazon
iTunes

 

Find Simon online:
Twitter
Facebook
GoodReads