Life — May 15, 1931 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Be Kind to Your Biographer" by Richard Connell This satirical article uses a cartoon and humorous narrative to mock both biography-writing and biographical subjects. The cartoon depicts a dinner party where "the man who had read up on the subject" is speaking—presumably a biographer sharing embarrassing or unflattering details about someone present. Connell's piece jokes that biographers will eventually excavate all your secrets—love letters, drinking habits, dancing mishaps, rejected job applications—from archives and correspondence. His tongue-in-cheek advice: help your biographer by keeping good records yourself, or at least organizing a coordinated effort among friends to promote a flattering narrative during "Be Kind to Your Biographer" week. The satire targets both the invasiveness of biographical research and vanity around one's historical legacy.