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CompleatConferen BiographerCeC2011e

May 21, 2011

National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC

Biographers International Organization Conference Organizers

Officers Conference Planning Committee Nigel Hamilton, Charles J. Shields, ear Colleagues, Charles J. Shields,President Jonathan Eig Chair Vice President Barbara Fisher Board Louise W. Knight Welcome to our second annual “Compleat Biographer” Carol DeBoer-Langworthy, Alice Bonner Conference. We have a terrific program for you! Gayle Feldman Treasurer Catherine Reef Anne C. Heller Kitty Kelley DBIO is a grass-roots organization of practicing and apprentice Kitty Kelley Hans Renders biographers, the first and only one of its kind. This is our Andrew Lownie Andrew Lownie Hans Renders Barbara Burkhardt opportunity to get together, meet our elected board, set our Carl Rollyson Robin Rausch goals and spend a full day learning from each other and from Stacy Schiff the reviewers, agents, and others who help to bring our work to Will Swift Conference Site Committee Steve Weinberg Barbara Burkhardt, readers. Robin Rausch, Co-chair Advisory Council Ken Ackerman Co-chair Thanks to the hard work of our Planning and Site committees, Debby Applegate, Pat McNees we have a great selection of panels held in an apt setting; an opportunity to pitch proposals to Chair Deirdre Bair Stephen Grant agents; and, while breaking bread together during our annual lunch-time award ceremony, a chance Douglas Brinkley Kristie Miller Amy Schapiro to honor perhaps the most distinguished living biographer in the : Robert Caro. Catherine Clinton David O. Stewart Doris Kearns Goodwin Biography faces many challenges today, from a reduced attention span and ever-growing Joan Hedrick BIO Award Nomination Committee celebrity worship among readers to an obsession with self rather than others. As a result of new Michael Holroyd Will Swift, technologies, a veritable publishing revolution is unfolding before our eyes – one that will affect Justin Kaplan Steve WeinbergChair Eric Lax Kitty Kelley us all, for better or for worse. By confronting these challenges together, rather than singly, we Stacy Schiff can ensure the survival of biography as seriously researched, articulately composed, and well- Carol DeBoer-Langworthy produced work chronicling the lives of real individuals: a craft that has been in existence since William S. McFeely Program Publishing Committee Greek and Roman times. This is our commitment, then, each and every one of us: to make a Marion Meade Anne C. Heller unique contribution to human knowledge and understanding through our work. Nancy Milford Will Swift Andrew Morton Bravo biography – and, with your input, long live BIO! Martin J. Sherwin Executive Director T.J. Stiles James McGrath Morris Best, Biographers International Organization Terry Teachout P.O. Box 33020 Santa Fe, NM 87594 Nigel Hamilton 505-983-4671 [email protected] President

2 3 Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization Schedule Panels and Panelists

7:30–7:45am Registration Dealing with Black Holes in Your Subject’s Life 9:00–10:30am Location: HoLeman 7:45–8:45am Breakfast Ballroom Opening: Practicing biographers suggest research and narrative techniques to compensate for gaps in evidence, • Welcome by Barbara Burkhardt, chair of the Washington Site Committee with an emphasis on integrity. • Introduction of current and newly-elected members of the board Moderator toM powerS writes about how • Remarks by Nigel Hamilton people respond to the challenge Stephen Grant’s fourth book, of a particular moment in • Reports by vice-president, treasurer, membership and blue-ribbon committees Peter Strickland:, was New published history and about those who • Solicitation for 2011–12 committees and new business from the floor inShipmaster, 2007 as Boston part Merchant,of a “Diplomats First Consul and to Diplomacy”Senegal series. He drive or are trapped in those is completing a dual biography of Henry and Emily Folger, 9:00–10:30am First round of workshops and panels moments: Richard Helms, founders of the Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill. who helped to create the CIA; He is a member of the Washington Biography Group. 10:45am–12:15pm Second round of workshops and panels Werner Heisenberg, who purposely failed to build an 12:30–1:45pm Lunch and Keynote Address by Robert Caro,winner of the 2011 BIO Award Panelists atomic bomb for Hitler; and Ballroom Matthew alGeo is a journalist and author. His latest book, Crazy Horse, who let the U.S. , recounts the story of a secret cancer Army kill him rather than break 2:00–3:30pm Third round of workshops and panels operationThe President that Is a was Sick performedMan on President Grover Cleveland his promise for peace. 3:45–5:15pm Fourth round of workshops and panels in 1893 and of Elisha Jay Edwards, the intrepid reporter who Marc leepSon, journalist and historian, is the author of broke the story. In , Algeo seven books, including , Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure Saving Monticello Flag: An American 5:15–7:00pm Reception, interview with Stacy Schiff, and book signings by Stacy Schiff and chronicled Harry and Bess Truman’s post-presidential road , and, most recently, trip. His tells of the 1943 merger of the Biography , published byLafayette: Palgrave Lessons Macmillan in Leadership in March. from other authors Last Team Standing Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles. Athe formerIdealist Generalstaff writer for , he is the arts editor, columnist, and seniorCongressional writer for Quarterly The VVA Veteran, published by Vietnam Veterans of America.

The Role for Fiction in Biography 9:00–10:30am Location: murrow How to employ storytelling techniques to add suspense and drama to biography. Agent Speed Dating • 2:00 to 5:30pm (Locations booked individually) Moderator Brian Jay JoneS, writer and biographer, spent nearly two decades working for elected officials at all levels of • A private pitch meeting with at least three agents. The meetings will occur while workshops BarBara Burkhardt is the author of government, including in the U.S. Senate. His first book, are underway so you may need to miss part or all of a session. But your agent schedule will be , about editor andWilliam novelist Maxwell: (University A , was hailed as the sent to you in advance of the conference ofLiterary Illinois Life Press), andThe Newis also Yorker the editor of the forthcoming authoritativeWashington Irving: biography An American of American Original literature’s first Man of , a collection of his interviews Letters and was awarded a Medal for Literary Excellence by andConversations public remarks, with William to be Maxwell published by the University Press of the St. Nicholas Society of New York. He is at work on the Mississippi in 2012. She is an associate professor of American authorized biography of Muppet creator Jim Henson for Literature for the University of Illinois Springfield, where she . was named the 2007 University Scholar. She is at work on a new biography and lives in Washington, D.C. J. Michael lennon, Norman Mailer’s archivist and authorized biographer, is currently editing Mailer’s letters and writing the biography, to be published by Simon and Schuster. Lennon’s Panelists other books include (2000), a SuSan tyler hitchcock is the author of thirteen “outstandingNorman Mailer:scholarly Works title” and in Days 2001; nonfiction books including Choice Magazine (1986); Critical Mad Mary Lamb: Lunacy and Murder , and , both (1988);Essays on Norman Mailer (1991),Conversations and with Norman Mailer in Literary London Frankenstein: A Cultural History published by W. W. Norton. She works as a senior book editor The James Jones, 1963–69 Reader (2004). HeNorman is the Mailer’s past president Letters at the National Geographic Society, specializing in large- ofon anthe American Norman Dream Mailer Society and the James Jones Literary format illustrated books in science and history, many of which Society, and the Emeritus Professor of English at Wilkes contain biographical material. She lives near Charlottesville, University, where he continues to teach in the M.F.A. Program. Virginia, and works in Washington, D.C.

4 5 Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization Book Reviewers Address Biography 9:00–10:30am Location: Lisagor How to Organize Your Research 10:45am–12:15pm Location: HoLeman Reviewers discuss how they choose and evaluate biographies and what makes for an outstanding Software programs – for outlining, cross-indexing, inserting photographs and documents, footnoting – biography from the reviewer’s point of view. and beyond: how to get the most out of what you know.

Moderator david o. Stewart is the author of Moderator is the author of (2007),The Summer a of 1787: The, which Peabody was Sisters: awarded Three the nancy GreenSpan, author of roBin rauSch is the author of bestsellerThe Men Who and Invented winner the of Constitution the Washington WritingWashington Award Post for FrancisWomen Who Parkman Ignited AmericanPrize, the Romanticism Mark Lynton History Prize, the , is alsoThe co-author, End of the with Certain her World: husband, The , a MacDowellA Partnership Colony in Art: history, the Best Book of 2007, and Massachusetts Book Award in Nonfiction, and was a finalist theLife lateand Sciencechild psychiatristof Max Born Stanley Greenspan, of four books on writtenMacDowells on andcommission Their Legacy for the commemorative book Impeached: The (2009), Trial of a PresidentDavis-Kidd Andrew for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in biography and memoir. Her child development. . A senior musicA Place bestseller.Johnson and Histhe Fight forthcoming for Lincoln’s Legacy essays and reviews have appeared in , the , specialistfor the Arts: at The the MacDowell Library ofColony Congress, 1907–2007 she is currently at work , willAmerican be published Emperor: Aaronin October. Burr’s , and Atlantic. on a biography of the colony’s founder, Marian MacDowell. Panelists StewartChallenge isto aJefferson’s veteran America SheThe Newteaches York theTimes art Book of archivalReview researchThe London in the Review MFA ofprogram Books denniS draBelle has been a contributing editor of the trial lawyer and is at Emerson College, and she is completing a new book, The since 1984 and, in 1996, won president of the Panelists , to be published Passion of Margaret Fuller: A Biographical Romance theWashington National Post Book Book World Critics Circle award for Excellence in natalie dykStra is the author of by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Washington Independent Clover Adams: A Gilded Reviewing. His books include , a history of the , an , forthcoming from Houghton Mifflin dona Munker, who is the New York correspondent for Mile-High Fever Review of Books and Heartbreaking Life Comstock Lode silver rush, and online book review Harcourt in February 2012. She has received fellowships , is a former trade book editor living in NewThe Taming the Octopus: How Two , forthcoming that was launched and grants for her writing, including a National Endowment York.Biographer’s She isCraft the author of the first-person narrative biography nextGreat year.American His Writers next project Took on willa Notorious be a biography. Monopoly in February, 2011 for the Humanities Long-Term Fellowship, a White House and is sponsored by Daughter of Persia: A Woman’s Journey from Her Father’s Harem through arJorie ehe is the book editor of Historical Association Fellowship, and research grants from (Crown/Random House), based on one M k the nonprofit AIW the Islamic Revolution , directing both print and online Thebook Christian coverage. Science the Schlesinger Library and the Massachusetts Historical hundred hours of interviews with her subject, who brought Monitor Freedom to Write Society. She is an Associate Professor of English at Hope social work and the birth control movement to Iran. She is Previously, she was a business reporter at the McGraw Hill Fund. Companies and at VNU Business Media. She holds a masters College in Holland, MI. When not teaching, she lives with her currently at work on , a Sara and Erskine, An American Romance degree in Italian literature from Middlebury College and a husband in Waltham, MA. biographical study of Sara Bard Field, American poet and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from New York University. suffragist, including her love affair with the attorney and writer C.E.S. Wood.

The Author/Agent Fit 9:00–10:30am Location: Zenger

What qualities, attitudes, and behavior lead to a successful collaboration between agent and author, from Writing for Young Adults 10:45am–12:15pm Location: murrow book proposal to publication and promotion. An author, and editor, and an agent discuss. Panelists discuss subject matter, style, voice, and readability in one of the hottest categories in publishing today.

Moderator executive editor for Da Capo Press, acquiring books in the has received the Jefferson Cup Honor (for distinguished areas of biography, history, and military history. He also Moderator paMela kilian fox is the author of biography) and two American Library Association Notable Michael BurGan has written Barbara Bush: Matriarch teaches history and interdisciplinary humanities at Villanova Book awards. National Geographic Children’s Books will . She was a reporter and editor for United Press more than 250 books for of a Dynasty University. publish her most recent book, about George Washington and International and Scripps Howard News Service before children and teens, including retiring in 2007. John taylor “ike” williaMS, a founder of the Kneerim & slavery, in 2012. Williams literary and dramatic rights agency, specializes in adaptations of classic novels. Mary BowMan-kruhM has authored or co-authored over biography, history, politics, natural science, and anthropology. Among his biographies of Panelists sports figures, presidents, thirty nonfiction books for children, young adults, and adults. He represents Howard Gardner, Joseph J. Ellis, E.O. Wilson, Formerly a special education administrator and reading Jonathan eiG is the best-selling author of three books: Tim Berners-Lee, Charles Ogletree, Elizabeth Marshall scientists, and world leaders , are recent books on Ronald specialist, she is now an associate on the faculty of the Center Thomas, James MacGregor Burns, the late Rev. Peter J. for Technology in Education, Johns Hopkins University. Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou, Gehrig Opening Day: The Gomes, Richard Wilbur, Drew Gilpin Faust, and Sara Reagan for DK Publications Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season and Get . Capone:He is a The former Secret staffPlot Lawrence-Lightfoot, among others. He has been a member and on George W. Bush for catherine reef’s most recent of forty nonfiction books for writerthat Captured at the America’s Most Wanted and Gangster former executive editor of of the NEA Literary Panel, chair of the Boston Lawyers Marshall Cavendish. young people and adults is (Clarion, Jane Austen: A Life Revealed magazine.Wall Street Journal Committee for Civil Rights, and he serves as a director of the 2011). She has received the Joan G. Sugarman Children’s Book Chicago Award for in 1996, the 2001 Sydney Taylor Award roBert piGeon is a former managing editor and executive Boston Book Festival. He is co-author of the widely used Perle Panelists for Walt Whitman , and a 2010 Golden Kite editor for Hippocrene Books. In 1985, he founded his own & Williams handbook on publishing law. Marfé ferGuSon delano is the author of biographies HonorSigmund Award Freud: for Pioneer of the Mind . publishing company and served as its president until he sold for children on Thomas Edison ( ), Albert Ernest Hemingway: A Writer’s Life the firm to the Perseus Books Group in 2001. He is currently Einstein ( ), and Annie SullivanInventing ( the Future). She Genius Helen’s Eyes

6 7 Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization Hiring an Independent Publicist 10:45am–12:15pm Location: Lisagor The Art of Interviewing 2:00–3:30pm Location: Zenger Forced to take more responsibility for promoting their books, authors are turning to Book Buzz, Book Panelists discuss setting up, preparing for, and conducting a meaningful interview. Tour, Inc., etc. Independent publicists, many affordable, can help. Experts discuss expectations, results, Moderator at the University of Richmond, the executive producer of a and costs. forthcoming PBS documentary titled Marc pachter is the former director of the Smithsonian , based on her book The Reconstruction of Asa National Portrait Gallery, the nation’s museum of American Carter . She isSlippery currently Characters: working Ethnic on Impersonatorsa documentary Moderator Panelists biography, where he was cited in the Secretary’s Gold Medal filmand American called Identities . ken ackerMan, a writer and erin l. cox began her career in publicity at Scribner and is award as the Institution’s “master interviewer.” He also Mothers at War attorney in Washington, D.C., currently an agent and publicist for Rob Weisbach Creative convened one of the earliest conferences on biography, which liz huMeS is the president of WRIR, a public radio station is a 25-year veteran of senior Management, where she represents writers, offers publicity and resulted in the book he edited, in Richmond, Virginia. For the past six years, she has hosted positions in Congress, the promotion services and works with corporations including . December 2011 will mark theTelling 25th Lives: anniversary the Biographer’s of his “Wordy Birds,” a weekly radio show about books and ideas, for executive branch, and financial and . stewardshipArt of the Washington Biography Group. which she has conducted hundreds of interviews. The Daily Beast regulation. He is the author Jennifer richardS is co-president of Over the River Public pat McneeS worked at Harper & Row and Fawcett Books of four books, including Relations, a publicity firm that specializes in marketing, media, Panelists before becoming a freelance journalist, a nonfiction author, and word-of-mouth campaigns for books and authors. Earlier, and an editor of anthologies. She is the president of the Boss Tweed: The Corrupt Pol Who laura Browder’s fourth and most recent book is Association of Personal Historians, writers who help ordinary Conceived the Soul of Modern New Richards worked at Random House, where she helped to When, with , people write their life stories, and teaches life writing; she also York The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Jay launch and promote by Edward Klein, by photographsJaney Comes Marching by Sascha Home: Pflaeging. Portraits of WomenHer previous Combat booksVeterans include , Martin Duberman, andJust Jackie by EdwardPaul Robeson Ball. specializes in writing histories of organizations. Gould, and Black Friday 1869 Dark, and,Horse: most The Surprise recently, Election and (2006), and Rousing the A Slave in the Family Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America Political Murder of James A. Garfield Young. J. Nation: Radical Culture in Depression America (1998). She Edgar: Hoover, the Red Scare, and the Assault on Civil Liberties is the Tyler and Alice Haynes Professor of American Studies

Can I Quote That? Writing Biography Pieces for Magazines and Online 2:00–3:30pm Location: HoLeman Dealing with Copyright, Fair Use, Permissions 10:45am–12:15pm Location: Zenger Writing a feature article about your subject can help you test popular interest, secure a contract, and Find out how to avoid frustrating entanglements and legal pitfalls. promote a forthcoming book. But where, and how? The experts discuss.

GreG dauGherty is the executive editor of kitty kelley, author of and the doyenne of Moderator Moderator and previously held senior editing positions atConsumer ,Reports the unauthorized biography,Oprah: says A“A Biography rudimentary knowledge of aMy Schapiro is the author of , a pat McneeS worked at Harper & Row and Fawcett Books , and other publications. As a free-lancer, Timehe has Inc. writtenReader’s copyright is crucial for writers who must deal with publishers biography of the New Jersey congresswomanMillicent Fenwick: whom Her WalterWay before becoming a freelance journalist, a nonfiction author, forDigest , the , and avoid lawsuits.” She has written bestselling unauthorized Cronkite called the “Conscience of Congress.” Schapiro is and an editor of anthologies. In the 1990s, she helped to The, Newand York Times . HisWashington books include Post National Geographic biographies of , , Jackie Onassis, currently at work on the first biography of former Attorney represent writers at the three-year-long, monthly Conference Traveler (Writer’sSmithsonian Digest Books). He conductsYou Can a blog Write on for , the Bush Dynasty, and Britain’s royal family; General Nicholas Katzenbach, a key figure in the passage and on Fair Use in the Digital Age. She is the president of the magazineMagazines history, called “When Editors Were Gods.” she is no stranger to lawsuits, none of which she has lost. enforcement of civil rights legislation during the Kennedy and Association of Personal Historians and teaches life writing Johnson administrations. She lives in Washington, D.C. wil hayGood, a national reporter for the , kirk Schroder, an entertainment lawyer with the firm of and also specializes in writing the histories of organizations. is the author ofWashington five nonfiction Post Schroder Fidlow, PLC, is currently chair of the Entertainment books, including three award- & Sports Law Section of the American Bar Association. He is Panelists Panelists winning biographies: listed in in the field of entertainment, ray e. BooMhower is a senior editor of the King of the Bruce l. Bortz, publisher and attorney, practiced The Best Lawyers in America and Martindale-Hubbell gives him an AV, its highest rating , where he has edited and written forIndiana the IHS’s Historical Cats: The Life and Times of Adam government and attorney disciplinary law before running ; for lawyers. Authors, writers, and publishers represent a major quarterlySociety Press history magazine T Clayton Powell, Jr. In Black and a daily newspaper (Baltimore’s ), writing a part of his practice. since 1999. He is the authorraces of Indianaof more and than Midwestern ten books, White: The Life of Sammy Davis, political column ( The Daily and Record ), ; and includingHistory biographies of astronaut Gus Grissom, World War Jr. Sweet Thunder: The Life and operating his own Baltimorepolitical Evening newsletter Sun ( Baltimore Sun ), . He is a II correspondent Ernie Pyle, Civil War general and author Lew Times of Sugar Ray Robinson and managing Bancroft Press, his own tradeThe Maryland book publishing Report Guggenheim Fellow for 2011. Wallace, and women’s rights pioneer May Wright Sewall. house. In each endeavor, he’s used his legal skills to avoid being Julia E WaN sued and successfully sue others. He practices entertainment law (freelance) on behalf of writers and publishers.

8 9 Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization How to Create an Effective Website for a Biography 2:00–3:30pm Location: Lisagor Using Technology in Research 3:45–5:15pm Location: Zenger Tips for making your website a workhorse in service of your book’s critical and popular success. Librarians have become cybrarians and archivists are interfacers. How can you take advantage of their new methodologies and expertise? Moderator for authors and publishers. Prior to founding TBRN, she spent seventeen years at Condé Nast Publications, where she Stephanie deutSch, a writer and critic living in Washington, developed marketing, promotion and publicity programs. Moderator historical materials; her subject areas include architecture, early D.C., is the author of American cultural history, and digital humanities. She is a co- You Need a Schoolhouse: The Story of Booker T. david o. Stewart is author of , , due out early kriSten e. Gwinn is a visiting scholar with the history founder of the Digital Humanities Caucus of the American Washington Julius Rosenwald and 5,000 Rosenwald Schools (2007),The a Summer of 1787: bestseller The Men next year from Northwestern University Press, and is a longtime department at Northwestern University. She believes that Studies Association and serves on the Board of Directors andWho winnerInvented ofthe theConstitution Washington WritingWashington Award Postfor Best Book member of the Washington Biography Group. using technology for education, particularly in history, is of of the Vernacular Architecture Forum. Her published work vital importance, and builds technological components, such of 2007, and Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the covers topics from breast cancer in the early 19th century to as web sites and databases, to further this mission through her (2009), a Davis-Kidd bestseller. He is a Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy vernacular architecture and performance theory. Supported Panelists consulting agency HistoryIT. She is the author of veteran trial lawyer and is president of the Emily Greene Washington Independent by an LC Kluge Staff Fellowship for fiscal year 2011, she carol fitzGerald is co-founder and president of The Book and has served as a graduate , an online book review. Balch: The Long Road to Internationalism Review of Books is engaged in full-time research for a cultural history of Report Network, a group of eight popular internet sites about editorial fellow for Philadelphia’s Society of Free Quakers. books and authors founded in 1996; its Authors on the Web . The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers: The Human Rights Panelists division provides web development and internet marketing Years, 1945–1948 david SMith is a reference librarian, recently retired, whose aliSon Booth is the author of career spanned three decades at New York Public Library’s 42nd (1992) and Greatness Engendered: George Street Research Library. He administered the library’s Wertheim Eliot and Virginia Woolf How to Make It as a(2004) Woman: and Study and Frederick Lewis Allen rooms, which are provided 2:00–3:30pm Location: murrow What You Need to Know About E-Books isCollective the editor Biographical of History from Victoria (Longman) to the Present and for writers using NYPL collections over extended periods of Wuthering Heights Introduction Should you become your own publisher? Experts discuss the risks and opportunities involved in (Norton). She is currently engaged in a digital time. He made it a priority to provide personal assistance to project,to Literature , a book professional writers, and, for his efforts, received an NYPL digital publishing. on literaryCollective tourism, Biographies biography, of Women, and houseand Authors museums. Revisited She is a Library Lions Award in November of 2009. He is proud to professor of English at the University of Virginia. have been profiled in Marilyn Johnson’s excellent book .This Book SuSan Garfinkel is a research specialist at the Library Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All Moderator richard zackS, a former journalist, specializes in writing of Congress, where she works with the Library’s digitized books of subversive history, including as ken ackerMan, a writer and attorney in Washington, D.C., (Doubleday) and the bestselling Anbook Underground is a 25-year veteran of senior positions in Congress, the (Hyperion).Education He is finishing a book about TeddyPirate Roosevelt, Hunter executive branch, and financial regulation. He is the author of police commissioner of , 1895–1897, for four books, including Doubleday. ,Boss Tweed: The Corrupt Pol Who Conceived the Soul of Modern, New York The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, and Black Friday 1869 Dark, and, Horse: most The recently,Surprise Election and Political Murder of James A. Garfield . Young J. Edgar: Hoover, the Red Scare, and the Assault on Civil Liberties Panelists ed Mccoyd is an attorney and executive director for Digital, Environmental, and Accessibility Affairs at the Association of American Publishers. He works on issues including the use of digital technologies to market, sell, and distribute publishers’ products and the prevention of electronic piracy of books and other works. Formerly, he served as director of legal services at the Authors Guild, providing licensing and copyright advice to published writers and advocating for authors’ rights. He is the author of the young readers book Reception and Book Signings 5:15–7:00pm Location: First amendment room (New StreetTo Publishing).Live and Dream: The Incredible Story of George Foreman • Network with agents, editors, and panelists. Meet members of BIO’s Board. Chat with other biographers. • Interview with Stacy Schiff, the author of , a Pulitzer Prize finalist; , winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Saint-Exupery: A Biography Vera, winner (Mrs. Vladimir of the GeorgeNabokov) Washington Book Prize; and A Great Improvisation:, a phenomenal Franklin, France,critical and and the popularBirth of America success. : A Life • Book signings with Stacy Schiff and other authors.

10 11 Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization Turning Research Into Narrative 3:45–5:00pm Location: HoLeman Using Social Networking 3:45–5:15pm Location: Lisagor What to include and what to leave out? How to achieve style and pace? This session makes a good Beyond “Buy my book”: How to build social networks and use networking sites in uniquely productive ways. pairing with “The Role for Fiction in Biography.” Moderator kate Buford’s most recent biography, Moderator anne c. heller is the aBBy SantaMaria holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from Native American author of aMy Schapiro is the author of , a . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will publish Son: The Life And Sporting Ayn (NanRand and Talese/ the (Knopf biography of the New Jersey congresswomanMillicent Fenwick: whom Her WalterWay her first book, a biography of Joy Davidman, the communist Legend Of Jim Thorpe Doubleday),World She Made a 2010), was a Cronkite called the “Conscience of Congress.” Schapiro is film critic, poet and wife of C.S. Lewis, in 2012. New York Times Notable BookNew York and Editors’ Choice and the currently at work on the first biography of former Attorney Times Best BookSan SABR (Society of American General Nicholas Katzenbach, a key figure in the passage and ofFrancisco the Year Chronicle for 2009. She Panelists Baseball Researchers) enforcement of civil rights legislation during the Kennedy and 2011 Larry Ritter Award has been managing editor of ellen f. Brown is an award-winning free-lance writer from ROBERT C uRTiS Johnson Administrations. , a fiction Richmond, Virginia. She co-authored winner for best book about The Antioch Review Margaret Mitchell’s ,Gone a top baseball’s Deadball Era (pre-1920). Her editor at and , Burt Lancaster: An Panelists an articles editor at , and the executiveEsquire editor of theRedbook pickWith theby Wind: A Bestseller’s for Odyssey spring from 2011. Atlanta to Hollywood was named a best book of the year by Lear’s Publishers Weekly American, the Life , and the . SheThe has New been York John aloySiuS farrell is the author of magazine development group at Condé Nast Publications. nell Minow writes the “Risky Business” column for Bnet.com Tip O’Neill and the aTimes commentatorWashington on NPR’s Post MorningLos AngelesEdition Times and American (Little, Brown) and She has written for , , , and (part of CBS Interactive) and the Movie Mom blog for Beliefnet. Democratic Century Clarence Darrow: Attorney Esquire Lear’s Vanity Fair The Wall Street Public Media’s Marketplace. , which will be published by Doubleday in June. online among other publications. com. She has co-authored three books about business and is for the Damned Journal He is a former prize-winning White House correspondent Jane leavy is the author of two bestsellers, working on her second book about the movies. She has been and Washington editor for the and a former New York Times online since 1986, has had a website since 1995, and is active Boston Globe columnist for the . (HarperCollins)The Last Boy: Mickey and Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood on Twitter, Facebook, tumblr, linkedin, flickr, and many others. Denver Post (HarperCollins). She Sandywas a Koufax: staff Awriter Lefty’s at Legacythe from 1979 to 1988, first in the sports section Washingtonand later Postas feature writer for the style section. She has also written for , , , , the , The New York, and Times theNewsweek Self Sports. She Illustrated is the first Villagefemale Voice editorWomenSport of the 2011 editionLos Angeles of TimesBest American Sports Writing.

Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization

extends its thanks to extends its thanks to extends its thanks to our Sarah Baldwin affiliate members EDITORIAL SERVICES

Phyllis McKee • University of graphic and web design Mary Washington for its support of the 2011 Compleat Biographer 508∙376∙3717 • WSK Management, LLC Conference mckeedesignweb.com [email protected]

12 13 Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization Funding Your Work 3:45–5:15pm Location: murrow ...... Get advice about grants, fellowships, and resources for finding them from writers who have received

them and administrators who make decisions about funding literary works. Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization Moderator leSlie Brody is the author of (Counterpoint Press),Irrepressible: The Life and, a memoir Times Brian Jay JoneS, writer and biographer, spent nearly two thatof Jessica won Mitford the PEN USA award for creativeRed Star nonfiction, Sister and a decades working for elected officials in government, including extends its thanks to collection of essays called . She is the former extends its the U.S. Senate. His first book, book columnist for MagazineA Motel ofand the aMind Sundance Creative , was was awarded the St.Washington Nicholas Irving: Society An of American New thanks to Nonfiction Fellow. Elle York’sOriginal Medal for Literary Excellence. He is presently at work

on the authorized biography of Muppet creator Jim Henson louiSe (lucy) w. kniGht is the author of two biographies ...... for Random House. of Jane Addams: (W. W. Norton), a The Washington complete life, andJane Addams: Spirit in Action Independent Review THE MAYBORN (University of ChicagoCitizen: Press), Jane Addams an account and the of Struggle her formative for Democracy of Books Literary Nonfiction Conference Panelists years. Her work has been published in and ndré ernard is vice president and secretary of the a B the , and she regularly reviews for the www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. For nearly Wall Street Journal. She is a visiting scholar with the GenderWomen’s Studies twenty-five years he worked in book publishing, most recently ProgramReview of Booksat Northwestern University. as publisher of Harcourt Brace. He is the author of four This nationally acclaimed annual books on the literary trade and speaks frequently about for its support of the publishing matters. event is where journalists, 2011 Compleat Biographer writers, readers, students, and Conference educators meet to discuss their accomplishments, aspirations and angst.

• Top tier writers from Texas, the Biographers International Organization U.S. and around the globe Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization extends its thanks to • $15,000 in cash awards extends its thanks to extends its thanks to • Opportunities to meet with publishers and literary agents • Inspiration for practicing the craft of writing at the highest Freedom to Write possible level Fund for its support of the July 22–24, 2011 for its support of the for its support of the 2011 Compleat Biographer Grapevine, Texas 2011 Compleat Biographer 2011 Compleat Biographer Conference Conference Conference

14 15 Biographers International Organization Biographers International Organization The 2011 BIO Award Recipient: Robert Caro The BIO Award is given annually to a colleague who has made a major and lasting contribution to the art and craft of biography. This year’s winner is Robert Caro, the author of The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of and three of four planned volumes of , New York The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power , and . For these masterful lives, Robert A. Caro has twice

Means of Ascent Master of the Senate D JOyCE Ravi won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, twice won the National Book Critics Circle Award for best nonfiction book of the year, and has won virtually every other major literary honor, including the National Book Award, the Gold Medal in Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Francis Parkman Prize, awarded by the Society of American Historians to the book that best “exemplifies the union of the historian and the artist.” In 2010, he received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama. He graduated from Princeton University and later became a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He lives in New York City with his wife, Ina, an historian and writer.

Schedule at a Glance Agent Speed Dating • Dating from 2:30 to 5:00pm (locations booked individually) Room Murrow Lisagor Zenger Holeman 9:00– The Role for Book Reviewers The Author/Agent Fit Dealing with Black Holes in 10:30am Fiction in Address Biography Your Subject’s Life Biography 10:45am– Writing the Young Hiring an Independent Dealing with Copyright, Fair How to Organize Your 12:15pm Adult Biography Publicist Use, Permissions, and Estates: Research Tips and Trapdoors 12:30– Lunch (Ballroom) 1:45pm 2:00– What You Need How to Create an The Art of Interviewing Writing Biography Pieces for 3:30pm to Know About Effective Website for a Magazines and Online E-Books Biography 3:45– Funding Your Using Social Using Technology in Research Turning Research Into 5:15pm Work Networking Narrative (ends at 5:00pm) 5:15– Reception, interview with Stacy Schiff, and book signings (First Amendment Room) 7:00pm

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Biographers International Organization