Blog Posts by Subject: Biography

Flannery O'Connor, who would have been 84 today, is best known for her dystopic portrayals of the South and Southerners in her novels Wise Blood, and The Violent Bear it Away, and in short stories like "The Displaced Person" and "The Life You Save May Be Your Own”. She died in 1964 at the age of 39 from complications related to lupus. O’Connor’s characters were more often than not non-believers; folks you'd be more likely to see in the wee hours of Sunday morning by the side of the road than in the front pew. In her work, however, the author returned again and again to religious themes, drawing on extensive theological reading and her 

If you enjoyed my earlier post on the Unexpected Lives of Women, here are some authors who did or wrote about things that were different from the status quo at the time.

George Eliot, wrote under pen name of a man so that she would not be seen as, what was considered at that time, merely another writer of romances. Other female writers who have used male pen names include George Sand, and more recently, writers such as Nora Roberts who have used gender-neutral initials, as J.D. Robb, for various reasons.

“Revolution is but thought carried into action.” —Emma Goldman

“All creative people want to do the unexpected.” —Hedy Lamarr

“If the career you have chosen has some unexpected inconvenience, console yourself by reflecting that no career is without them.” —Jane Fonda

For Women’s History Month, you might expect to hear about the same Notable Women, but what about women who are famous for one thing, and yet are accomplished in multiple arenas? Many modern women are familiar with juggling different aspects of their lives. Let’s take a look at a few famous women who have accomplished great feats for things 

A strange relationship is established with favorite novelists, particularly those who are our living contemporaries. In reading their work, we are reconstituting word by word their mental landscapes and experiencing the energy which has gone into the act of creation, thereby establishing an extraordinary sort of intimacy. Although it should work the same way with deceased authors, the relationship lacks the reassurance that they are safely off somewhere, working on their next book. Since these authors no longer inhabit our present reality, their fiction inexorably turns into historical fiction. When we have turned their last page, there is nothing beyond.

This February, Iris 

This is a picture of Algot Lange. Do you know who he is? I had not heard about him until last week when a patron approached the General Research Division reference desk asking about him. Mr. Lange was a Swedish explorer who wrote two books about his adventures in the Amazon during the early twentieth century. He’s an interesting fellow and a reminder that not all of history has been told: there is not a single entry for Algot Lange in any of our biographical databases nor is he the subject of any book. I decided that was reason enough to trace his story by means of historical documents.

Through a database called Ancestry Library Edition, I was able to find passenger lists 

(Stereoscopic view of a church bazaar from NYPL Digital Gallery.)

You’ve perhaps heard of Isabella Beeton, famous in Victorian England for her immensely popular guides to cooking and housekeeping. (A search in The Library Catalog for Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary), 1836-1865. will bring up the varied titles and editions of her works held at NYPL.) Writers and scholars of the history of cookery and home economics continue to study her, and a recent biography by Kathryn Hughes deftly uncovers why Mrs. Beeton continues to loom large in the history of domesticity.

But what of Mr. Beeton? As I learned from Hughes (and I do recommend her book), Mrs. Beeton and her