This life story of Pat Brassil and Belinda Brassil, written by Dimity Brassil, was published in the Sydney Morning Herald Timelines section on December 31, 2011. The publication of this article led Dimity to start thinking about a way to record personal life stories and family history using what was then a relatively new technology - podcasts.

“Pat Brassil and his daughter Belinda were part of what made Wagga Wagga work; Pat through decades of teaching and services to local government, and Belinda as a teacher in the Catholic school system. Both believed children in regional Australia should have the same opportunities as their city counterparts to excel.”

Dimity and her mother Anne appear on ABC News online “A mother and daughter in regional New South Wales have developed an app that captures the life stories of loved ones before they pass away… ‘If someone dies you do forget the sound of their voice. I'm sure we're not alone in wishing we could hear the sound of the voice of our loved ones once again’ Dimity says. This sparked the idea to sit down with her 87-year-old mother Anne and learn more about her life's journey.  They recorded her life story and family stories in private “this is your life” radio program.”

A Lasting Tale has nearly 40 private life story interviewers operating Australia-wide. They will record your family history and personal ife history in a private interview. It gets turned into a podcast and is the perfect gift for an elderly family member. It is perfect for an 80th birthday gift. Meet all our 40 interviewers Australia-wide and search for one near you at https://www.alastingtale.com/our-interviewers.

“The simplicity of their lives is always a shock to the families,” Dimity said. “They were a generation of people who lived with less stuff." This answer is universal across all the over 75s we interview for their family history or life story. This is a theme we often see in in our rural and regional interview subjects.

See Country News feature below for more. https://www.countrynews.com.au/news/harvesting-family-history/

“When Mum was diagnosed with cancer, I knew I wanted to have her life story recorded, no matter what. I felt it was enabling me to keep a piece of mum forever. She had so many amazing stories to tell that would be lost after she passed, and luckily Mum was open to the experience.”  

These powerful words are from Carla, who engaged A Lasting Tale to record an audio life story of her mother back in 2020. What was wonderful is that Carla recorded her mum’s audio life story early on in their journey, so the storytelling process became an integral component of the memory-making and reflection process.”

Read the Palliative Care Matters April 2022 featured article on how to record an audio life story yourself. It’s published at https://palliativecare.org.au/story/a-lasting-tale/

Watch our founding story on BMG Partners’ The Journey. Dimity talks about A Lasting Tale and how they create “this is your life” private podcasts for people to share their life stories with their families. She talks about how to record family history and life stories for all to treasure for now and into future generations.

Dimity appeared on Skye Manson’s Company podcast earlier this year. Skye says “Family history especially in the spoken word has the ability to deeply touch those who consume it – can you imagine listening to your loved ones speak, years after they have left this earth? What a treasured gift, heirloom and a legacy that could be. Well, this is the work of Dimity Brassil and her business A Lasting Tale. Dimity spends her time interviewing and record personal oral histories of people all over Australia.” Click in the post to take a listen to the interview.

“Ms Brassil describes the shift in people's outlooks as ‘a feeling in our hearts’. “The pandemic has made many reflect on their inner circles," she said. "We're doing so much to protect others; we've turned and looked at the most vulnerable in our lives. And when we turned and looked, we have really seen the value we place on them as a community and also as individuals in our family."

Read the full text of the feature by Ellen Ebsary in The Border Mail on Saturday 7th August 2021.

Read our feature in the Border Cafe, where Dimity explains the motivation behind starting A Lasting Tale. She talks about why people should make a life story recording, how to write a life story and how to record family history.

We love this equation: More life stories + humble elder voices = A Lasting Tale is growing! Let us introduce you to our new interviewers who are a lovely bunch of caring creatives, recording audio life stories far and wide.

Our subjects are often nervous before a “this is your life” story recording. But once we start, they love how it is all up to us. Find out how to make your parents feel less nervous when you are interviewing them for their life history or family history.