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A New Yorker who helps others share their stories rewrites her own tale in Memphis 

By , Daily Memphian Updated: March 01, 2026 4:00 AM CT | Published: March 01, 2026 4:00 AM CT

In September 2024, Hayley Brooks and Jake Tempchin held a bris for their newborn son, Ari, and invited people over for the Jewish ritual.

When they had moved from New York to Memphis a few years earlier, they hadn’t known anyone here. But on that day, neighbors and friends piled into their Midtown home to celebrate their child.

“It was a truly packed house of people we didn’t know before we moved here,” she said. “And that everyone wanted to show up for us and be a part of our lives in that way was deeply moving.”

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John Klyce

John Klyce

John Klyce is an enterprise reporter with The Daily Memphian who writes a wide range of in-depth features, as well as profiles about local leaders, scientists, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone else doing exciting and important work in this city. He previously spent four years with the Memphis Business Journal, where he covered public companies, startups, and innovation, and a fifth year with The Commercial Appeal, where he covered education, and chronicled how gun violence and poverty were affecting Memphis youth and their families. He has also been a fellow with the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. John has a B.A. in journalism from the University of Memphis and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Boston University.


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