Life Frames roughly traces the author's life from a small Kentucky town to life after years spent as an activist on the national stage. Life Frames consists of 27 vignettes:

- The age of "duck and cover" reminds us of the threat of nuclear war that hung over the heads of a generation of children

- A high school band trip through the South during the early days of civil rights violence brings home the struggle for its black band members

- Margaret creates a Christmas woven of fantasy as observed by her observant daughter

- A beloved aunt has a funeral worthy of nobility itself

- Stricken by bipolar disease at the height of her career, the author sets about redefining herself

Some are funny. Others are not. They can be read separately or consumed as a whole for full enjoyment.