“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”
Walt Whitman
Legacy Memoir
Your verse is already written—in the photographs in the shoebox, the letters tucked in the drawer, the stories you've told at the dinner table for decades. We're here to share your story and preserve your past.
What is a Legacy Memoir?
A legacy memoir is more than a life story. It's a portrait, narrative and visual, crafted to preserve the full texture of a life: the memories, the personal artifacts, the voice that makes you unmistakably you.
Unlike a traditional memoir written for a general audience, a legacy memoir is made for the people and communities who matter most to you. It's an heirloom. Something that holds its shape across generations. It preserves the details of your story across multiple media.
At Plumb Creative Books, legacy memoirs are the work we've built our practice around and the format we know most deeply. We approach every project as a bespoke collaboration, bringing the editorial, design, and publishing expertise of a traditional house to a process that centers your story, your timeline, and your vision.
Your story belongs here.
We believe everyone has a story worth preserving, and because legacy memoirs are often the least likely to find their way into traditional publishing, we provide a path.
We've had the privilege of working with people whose lives span a century of American history, whose careers took them into the sky, and whose families carried their culture across oceans to build something new. Veterans. Immigrants. Professionals whose decades of expertise deserve a record. Those whose memories form a bridge between worlds.
If you have a story and the ephemera (photographs, documents, or artifacts) that belong alongside it, Plumb Creative Books is the right publisher for you. We are passionate about preserving the priceless and irreplaceable moments that have captured one’s unique life.
We’re your partner in preservation.
We function as your publishing contractor: the experienced professional who makes sure every element of your book is built to the highest standard, so you don't have to navigate the process alone or piece it together yourself.
From your first consultation to your finished book, we handle the full scope of legacy memoir production: ghostwriting and editing, photo restoration, ephemera digitization, cover and interior design, printing, distribution, author branding, and marketing support.
The exact services that are right for your project depend on where you're starting and what your book needs. There’s so much we can do together.
Our Titles
We Gambled Our Future: Historia de Dos Caminantes
“Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.”
(Walker, there is no path, the path is made by walking.)
—Antonio Machado
What happens when two people from opposite ends of the world bet everything on each other - and win?
We Gambled Our Future: Historia de dos Caminantes is the captivating true story of María Cristina, an educated Latina woman and award-winning Bolivian architect, and Bill, an idealistic American who once studied for the priesthood - two unlikely souls who found each other across continents and built an extraordinary life together. Spanning Bolivia, Latin America, Europe, and the United States over four decades, this 342-page intercultural marriage memoir is a testament to the power of love, courage, and the willingness to leap into the unknown.
When María Cristina arrived in Los Angeles in 1972 with just $300 in her pocket, she and Bill made a simple but daring promise: she would work in her field while he pursued his dream of becoming a doctor. What followed was a life neither could have scripted - navigating immigration, medical school, career triumphs, cross-country moves, and the joyful chaos of raising two daughters between two cultures, two languages, and two proud family traditions.
This is a Bolivian immigrant story rooted in resilience, ambition, and deep, enduring love. From the foothills of the Andes to the beaches of Southern California, from the halls of UC Irvine's medical school to the family ski slopes of the Sierra Nevada, Bill and María Cristina never stopped moving forward - together.
Written as a love letter to their four grandchildren, We Gambled Our Future is also a widow's journey - an honest and moving account of life after loss, and the strength it takes to carry a shared legacy forward. Readers who have loved, lost, or dared to start over will find themselves deeply moved by this multicultural family history.
Also included:
14 pages of family photographs spanning early Bolivia and New York to the present day
Letters written in Bill's own words, offering an intimate and unfiltered glimpse into his heart and mind across the decades
Heartfelt tributes from his daughters and family members, celebrating the man and the legacy he left behind
We Gambled Our Future will resonate with fans of immersive family memoirs, American and Latin American love stories, and stories of strong women who forged their own paths in a world that didn't always make it easy.
AUTHOR: María Cristina López Gandarillas-Page
RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2026.
Order the limited edition to get an exclusive autographed copy on this collection of creative writing.
On June 20, 1960, 18-year-old Kirsten Mærsk Dyhr left Copenhagen, Denmark by ship with nineteen other young women and leaders of Girl Scout Troop Absalon II, for a summer with the American Girl Scouts of Manchester, Connecticut.
Growing up in post-WWII Scandinavian society, she experienced an entirely new perspective on personal freedom and independence. Within a culture of big cars, banana splits, and buildings that reached for the sky, "Kis" discovered more than the excess of mid-century Americana. It seemed there were no limits to the dreams they could achieve or the amount of ice cream they could consume.
Through carefully translated letters, diary entries, and digitized scrapbook pages, Kirsten’s story of coming to the United States for the first time captures the spark of independence that ultimately led to her discovering her own American spirit.
Book a no-cost, no-pressure consultation.
Legacy memoir is the right fit if you're ready to invest in a finished, professionally published book. Not just a document, but an heirloom.
Our clients come to us with compelling stories and the artifacts to match. They want a publisher who will understand what they're trying to preserve and deliver it at a level of quality that honors the material. They're ready to trust the process, engage in the collaboration, and take the time the work deserves.