The Biography Trap

Everyone has one. Yes, the story of our life. Shoot, my own outline is 5-pages in length and much of it is yet to be written. But for those who have reached the twilight of their years are thinking about what they want the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to know about them, their legacy. Of course they don’t use computers (some may). Their life stories are in the attic with treasures from travels and excursions through their time travels of the twentieth century. They’ve told you the stories, which were fascinating. You’ve even read some of the written text they used during their careers; and even listened to some of the recordings from their vivid past. You have been wowed and are awed by the demonstrative lives, now they ask you to help them to publish their masterpiece, a biography of life.

Panic is a funny feeling, like falling without a net. You have the necessary fortitude to accomplish the task, but neither the time nor the experience for the task. What can you do? What should you do? Well, the first thing is to be honest, then recommend a meeting with a biographer to discuss the amount of information available, the length of time it will take, and the expectations from the effort.

From the legacy to the digital archive; aghast at the very nature of what should be done with their precious sentimental diaries of life and careers. With no disrespectfulness intended, these are extremely important to family historians and interested heirs, but for most of the wares of the legacy, it can be noted and annotated within a single publication.

So the living will of information must be decided from the beginning through a series of questions and rigorous investigation into what purpose they intend to instill in their readership and inspiration struck from the chords of their experiences in life. Conducting this important cornerstone value and the rest of the foundation will consist of weeks of discussion and focus to provide a descriptive outline that embodies the purpose and frames the life experiences correctly for future generations to read and get to know their ancestors.

Many books on this exist but every effort has different challenges to overcome. Providing an overview of the agreed upon approach, its nuances and how you will address other unknown nuances during the process, the capacity of the final document to project a life and legacy tastefully, and lastly, how you will incorporate all of the “hard copy” documents and relevant photographs with the book covers will be a crucial step toward beginning the process. Did I mention that you must have them autograph this acknowledgement in clear detail, and dated, so the parties will all be in agreement on the scope of the project?