Charley Kempthorne of Olympia, Washington, 84, died November 30th, 2022, of small cell lung cancer in Olympia, WA.
His life’s work was the founding and almost 30-year publication of LifeStory Journal: since 1991, a free, online four-page newsletter with about 1500 subscribers, all about writing through personal journaling and family history. His wife acted as layout editor, illustrator, and co-editor. They began the project in their native Kansas farmhouse kitchen, using an opened drawer as a lightbox for their then print publication, running sometimes 24 pages. He was a pioneer in the Memoir Movement, as Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene named it.
The son of Dr. and Mrs. Charles "Kempy" and Lillian Kempthorne of Manhattan, KS, where Charley grew up and spent most of his life, he was a trained fiction writer with an MFA from the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Charley had difficulties writing and finishing fiction, and in despair, started keeping a journal in 1964. He was sporadic at first but eventually wrote faithfully every day and by the 1990s, was logging several hundred thousand words a year, and finally writing nearly a million words a year—almost 3K words a day.
He eventually realized journaling and teaching journaling through LifeStory Journal was his life’s work: his life story. For 25 years, he and his wife traveled the USA and Canada doing workshops in writing personal and family history.
Out of this came his only financially successful book, For All Time: A Complete Guide to Writing Family History, published in 1996 by Heinemann/Boyton-Cook of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He wrote and self-published several other books, including a novel, Gary's Luck, a book about narrative writing, several other unfinished novels, story collections, and even poetry.
Charley is survived by his wife of 48 years, June. They were married May 26, 1974, but Charley insisted that it was a case of love at first sight.
He had four children by two previous wives, and with June had two more, so that altogether he had six children and ten grandchildren and one great grandchild, Cooper. Preceded in death by his brother Kuhrman “Hal” Kempthorne, Charley’s children are Mason of Wernersville PA (Susan), Annie of Los Angeles CA, Daniel of Portugal (Liana), Leslie, of Seattle WA, (Steve), Benjamin, of Manhattan KS (Melissa), and Gardner "Rip" Kempthorne, of Olympia WA (Joanne). Grandchildren include Kyle, Max, Violet, Oliver, Adah, Currie, Hudson, Austin, Jessica, and David. He is also survived by his sister, Kathryn Bermudez of Overland Park KS, sister-in-law Carol Kempthorne of Paso Robles CA, and cousin Dr. Gerald Kempthorne of Missoula MT.
The Family of Charley Kempthorne invite you to a memorial in his honor. It will be held, Saturday, May 6, 2023, 10:30 a.m. at UU Fellowship at 481 Zeandale Rd, Manhattan, KS. Bring your memories and stay for coffee after; we would love to see you all.