One hundred years from now, in 2109 or so, Meg Brady imagines that some of her great-great-great-grandchildren might be a little curious about her life.

Was she a tomboy as a girl or the quiet, studious type? Did she have a favorite book? A favorite symphony? What did her voice sound like?

Brady's progeny won't have to look any further than the archives at the University of Utah Library to learn the answers to their questions and listen to her voice on CD or whatever high-tech audio gadget is the craze at the time.

The folklorist's story is preserved for eternity in the YourStory project that she started in 2004 to document the history of everyday people in the Beehive State.

Brady, an English and ethnic studies professor at the U., wants people to fulfill one of her biggest wishes before they die: Record your life story and continue the legacy of storytelling, she says, so that in a high-speed world, future generations will know what life at the turn of the century was like.

"Storytelling is a lost art in a way," says Brady, who recently joined me for a Free Lunch chat to talk about YourStory and another project for cancer patients.

"We've had such an intrusion of television, cell phones and other technology that, in some ways, we don't often take the time to actually listen to each other's stories," she says. "Capturing life stories on disc for the archives is one way of reviving that art."

So far, Brady and her students have interviewed more than 600 Utahns, from a 7-year-old who wanted to talk about his summer vacation to Disneyland to a former Miss Utah who reminisced about meeting Bert Parks at the Miss America pageant in the 1950s.

"We've talked to people from every walk of life, in every age group," says Brady, "with some people telling their story in 20 minutes and others taking 20 hours. People are always afraid that their life stories aren't interesting, but I've yet to hear a boring story. Every single one is unique and inspiring."

For $10 an hour, anyone can set up a time to be interviewed for YourStory at the Chase Home Museum of Folk Art in Liberty Park. Brady also records free "ethical wills" for cancer patients at the Huntsman Cancer Institution Wellness Center.

"It's not just for people with terminal cancer," she says, "but for anyone with a disease who has been doing some reflecting. For many people, it's the perfect time to sit down and get out their life story."

Brady's own life story began in Austin, Texas, where she grew up hearing her grandmother talk at length about life in the early 1900s.

"She was a fascinating woman, but once she started talking, she couldn't stop," she recalls, laughing. "Whenever my siblings and I heard her begin a sentence with 'Back in World War I … ' we knew it was time to escape the room."

Brady has more patience today, grateful for the opportunity to hear so many different tales of struggle and triumph.

"Sometimes, it's a person's last chance to get their story down before they pass on," she says, recalling a man with cancer who recorded his history with his family gathered around his bed.

"He died a few hours after our interview," says Brady, "but his legacy and his voice will live on. It was an honor to share his last day."

Have a story? Let's hear it over lunch. E-mail your name, phone number and what you'd like to talk about to freelunch@desnews.com.