I'm History – Lee Knapp's memoir

"How quaint...or is this kind of lame?" thought artist Lee Knapp after she half-heartedly returned to teach history at her old public high school. Because her private history was in a state of upheaval, she felt she had no choice.
On her once nearly all-white campus outside of Richmond, Virginia, Knapp found a new, wildly diverse population of students walking its old sidewalks. They would expand and even explode the foundations of an identity that she had been constructing since graduating in America's bicentennial: her evangelicalism, her Southern identity, her community. Knapp engagingly weaves in moments from big history that, as Twain reminds us, may not repeat, but certainly rhyme with our current moment.

"A stirring and
honest memoir."

THE BOOK LIFE PRIZE

Praise for I'm History

"Author Lee Knapp has crafted a poignant and enlightening journey through her personal experiences at her alma mater. Her candid reflections on navigating changes while teaching history offer a unique perspective on identity and belonging, and I loved the warmth and honesty of her prose. Knapp's adept storytelling is laced with detail, wit, and style, drawing readers into the complexities of her journey from grappling with her own beliefs to embracing unexpected opportunities for growth and connection. The memoir's exploration of historical parallels to contemporary issues is well-paced and explored naturally in the flow of narration, without ever feeling forced, prompting readers to reflect at their own pace on the cyclical nature of history and its impact on individual lives. Knapp's natural voice is both engaging and thought-provoking, offering valuable insights that sound like they’re coming from a dear old friend. Overall, I'm History...But Do I Repeat Myself? is a compelling read that resonates long after the final page, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to memoir fans everywhere."

K.C. Finn, Reader’s Favorite – Five Star Review

"A stirring and honest memoir. I'm History...but do I Repeat Myself sees Knapp examine her values and outlook as she explores the moments in life that define and shape our histories. Her love of history seeps through the pages…in a text that is constantly engaging…Knapp's text benefits from an exquisite attention to detail that successfully immerses the reader in the book. She offers an insight into history teaching practices, and her memories and reflections are often touching…her classroom experiences often eye-opening and intriguing. Knapp is a confident and accomplished writer, brilliantly managing to evoke vivid recollections from her upbringing."

The Book Life Prize

Five Star, Must Read. As a history teacher, much of [Knapp's] story includes the history of America and the men and women who helped shape it, but it is the stories of the everyday people in Knapp's life that set this autobiography apart...Her narration of racial tension in her society is skillfully done, interwoven with her own struggles and beliefs and inextricably bound to the past. Knapp's struggle is beautiful and real. I'm History...but do I repeat myself? is what a memoir should be. Raw and honest and unabashedly critical in hindsight."

Antoinette van der GrypReedsy Review

Lee Knapp tackles big, significant subjects like faith, race, and, yes, history—but she does it with a gentle touch and a puckish humor. Not just her own story, I’m History is a sort of meta-memoir of a whole generation. Her clear-eyed honesty as she pries open and grapples with some of the most difficult issues of our time gives the reader the security of a trusted guide into fraught territory. That Anne Bradstreet, Fred Flintstone, and Paul Simon all make appearances here demonstrates both breadth of reach and Knapp’s unique perspective on her time and place. From her farmhouse in rural Virginia, she perceptively casts her eye over her own history as well as its meanings in the wider world. As her reader goes with her on her quest, they will be challenged, entertained, and enlightened by her story and may never look at their own the same way again either.

D.P.Charlottesville, VA

Compelling as a straight-up memoir, the book creatively adds a mashup of bits of public history and then interestingly ties those to the stories of personal and communal change. I see the book as a unique bildungsroman, one in which the old-soul girl moves into middle age by way of repetitive stresses, lots of hard work and daily traumas. She finally pushes through the looking glass (admittedly with a few sharp cuts)--to discover herself suddenly lighter, freer, and not so old (even in soul), after all. At times, I could have believed I was reading a hilarious Clyde Edgerton novel; at others, an insightful Atlantic article on history in the making. Knapp writes clearly, honestly, interestingly and entertainingly. Pulling back the veil on difficult people and relationships, she finds opportunities to humanize without excusing and to reveal her own limitations alongside theirs, as well.

V.K.Richmond, VA

About the Author

Educator and entrepreneur Lee Knapp was born in 1957, the loudest reverberation of the Baby Boom. She was raised in suburban Richmond, Virginia where the symbols and legacy of the Civil War defined that city. After graduating from high school in America’s bicentennial year, she went on to study history at the historic College of William and Mary, where it was not uncommon to see Patrick Henry, George Wythe, or James Monroe throwing back beers at the Greenleaf Cafe before riding their mopeds off towards Jamestown Road. Despite a professor’s admonition that “there’s no future in history,” Knapp’s life has been unavoidably circumscribed by it.

After graduating from college, Knapp began teaching history in her home county in 1980 and by 1986 had three sons. She took a seventeen year hiatus from education during which she began an art business, creating whimsical teapots, relief sculptures of area colleges, and precise architectural replicas of private homes and a few public buildings out of clay.

In early 2003, she published a book of fifteen essays through Baker Books called Grace in the First Person. In the fall of that year, she returned to a classroom at her alma mater to teach modern European and US history, and later a class called Theory of Knowledge, essentially epistemology, as part of the rigorous International Baccalaureate program. In 2008, she launched her second business, grammarRULES! (grammarstuff.com), a line of plates, mugs, and greeting cards that addresses grammatical pet peeves with a wry, slightly judgmental tone.

Knapp retired from public education in 2021 and now lives in rural Virginia, reveling in the beauty of the horses and mountains across the street. She also revels in the beauty of the lives of her boys and their families, who still endlessly fascinate her.