Life, 1897-05-27 · page 15 of 32
Life — May 27, 1897 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines an illustration with a literary discussion about biographical writing. The image depicts a funeral scene—a woman in elaborate dress seated while mourners gather around her, with the caption noting "There's Mrs. Smith, and her uncle was only buried yesterday" and commenting that only death in the family would keep such a woman at home. The text discusses what's worth reading about public figures. It argues that biographical details about politicians (naming Cleveland, McKinley, and others) matter because voters need to understand leaders' capacities. However, it dismisses "personal items" about writers as "sterile reading"—essentially gossip masquerading as journalism. A character named Ferguson defends writing such pieces cynically, comparing the work to leather-handling: profitable but ultimately unremarkable. The satire targets the superficiality of celebrity gossip columns and the hollowness of biographical puffery in magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘SMES S ONLY ONE osk 2” SMITH, AND HER UNCLE ’ “HER OWN," sort of scdiment in the mind. Para- graphs about Grover Cleveland, and Tom Reed, and McKinley, and Mr. Bailey of Texas, and Thomas Platt, and that Mr. Payne whom there was so much clamor about, and Altgeld, and such per- sons, may be worth reading, for the personality of all these rulers of men concerns all citizens, and every voter is interested in picking up enough infor- mation about them to form the basis of an opinion as to each one’s capacity and quality. read about, too. times that are important in a way be- Millionaires are pretty good to They do things some- cause of their size. When Mr. Have- a Venice on the south shore of Long Island it stimulates the imagin- ation to hear of But the personal items about men of‘ letters are usually pretty sterile reading. What is impor- tant about a writer is what he writes. What is written about him is usually in the nature of an advertisement, or else meyer plan WAS ONLY BURIED YESTERDAY. ‘ DEATH IN HER FAMILY THAT WOULD KEEP THAT WOMAN aT HOME." a dig from someone who dislikes him, or a flattering notice from some friend who wants to do him a good turn. “The truth Ferguson, somewhat sadly, ‘I write literary ‘ per- sonals’ myself often when hides are dull, and I know whereof they are fash- ioned. I tell you, my boy, they make me feel that there's nothing, nothing like leather, which, properly handled, yields its due returns, and leaves its handler as inconspicuous as it finds him.” is,” added