Pat McNees, writer, editor,
personal historian

On this page:

• Meetings of the Washington Biography Group
• Links to websites and books of WBG members
• Boston biography group
• Other biography centers and resources

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Meetings of the Washington Biography Group

The meetings of the Washington (DC) Biography Group take place one Monday evening a month at the Washington International School, 3100 Macomb St., NW, Washington, DC 20008.

This is an informal gathering of people who write memoirs or biography, attended by professional writers as well as people writing personal or family memoirs (and a few who are working up the courage to do so). Lately we've reduced personal chat in our initial “go-around,” so guru Marc Pachter (click there on his name to see photos of him on his last day as director of the National Portrait Gallery, the only museum of biography in the country) has more time to lead a discussion and talk himself — offering wonderful insights into the art and the craft. It may not be worth making a special trip to DC for, but if you're going to be here anyway, it is worth scheduling your visit around one of these meetings, if you have a special interest in life story writing.

The Washington (D.C. Area) Biography Group is open to all who are seriously interested in reading, writing, or researching biographies. The group was inspired by Marc Pachter, then chief historian of the National Portrait Gallery, who organized an all-day symposium on "Biography: Life As Art" at The Smithsonian Institution's Baird Auditorium. Held December 6, 1986, the symposium was attended by 325 people. Three biographers talked about their work: David McCullough (author of Mornings on Horseback); Phyllis Rose (author of Parallel Lives); and Marc Pachter (who did a video interview of Edmond Morris about his book, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt).

Marc Pachter, Judy Nelson, and others wondered if members of the audience would like to continue meeting, so Marc announced at the end of the day that those interested in meeting to discuss biography writing should send him a postcard and he would schedule a meeting. In February 1987, about 30 people attended the first meeting, at Chick and Judy Nelson's home. The group continued to meet once a month, first in people's homes, then in independent schools (first Maret, and then and now in Washington International School's "Dacha" (library). Marc Pachter — who taught biography for Smith College (here in Washington) and edited Telling Lives: The Biographer's Art — guides the discussions, on topics chosen by the group, and provides invaluable insights into what makes biographies work. (Among topics discussed: the relationship between fiction and biography; problems we wrestle with in our work; family biographers; privacy and the biographer; biography in historical context; the treatment of childhood in biography; what makes a title good; what to leave out of a biography; how to find the central story of the life; the ways of literary agents; how to handle things we don't like about our subjects; front and back matter: finding the essence of the biography; who the heck are YOU to be writing this biography (can a man write about a woman, can an American write about a Brit, can a nonscientist write about a physicist — what entitles you to be writing this life story — one of our best discussions), what new resources are available in the digital age and how reliable are they? At potluck dinners held twice a year, in December and in June, members may read brief selections from their work.

In our discussion (January 30, 2006) of editing, one member spoke of "research rapture," apropos the stuff you are so proud you found that you want to put it in even if it doesn't fit. And Marc Pachter reminded us that as biographers our obligation is not principally to inform but rather to fascinate our readers ("If you are fascinated with the subject, your obligation is to make me fascinated.") He emphasized the importance of finding and crystallizing the essential message of the life we are presenting. (The essential message of the National Museum of the American Indian is "We're still here.") Narrative is principally about change, which doesn't have to take the form of action--it could be quest, transformation, internal drama. Jean Strouse in her biography of Alice James uses traditional structure to show Alice trapped in a prison of Jamesness. (Everyone agrees, more than half the pleasure of these meetings is Marc's comments.)

Biographies below are by members of the WBG.

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Links to websites and books of WBG members

Websites of some people and books associated with the Washington Biography Group (some members live outside of the DC area but plan visits so they can attend meetings)

Do not look for logic in the alphabetical order. Browse, as if in a casual old bookstore.

Her Excellency, An Oral History of American Women Ambassadors by Ann Miller Morin. (No website.) Mandatory reading for new ambassadors.

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Boston Biography Group

As of January 2008, this new biography group is meeting once a month, Sunday afternoon at 3 pm, in a private home in Newburyport, MA. Meetings are scheduled for:
February 17, March 16, April 20, May 18, June 15, July 20 August 17, September 14, October 19, November 16, and December 14.

How and why the group formed:

At a one-week workshop on biography held at Radcliffe (June 2007), 36 applicants ("The Schlesinger 36") who were chosen to have one-on-one mentoring got more favorable mingling opportunities than the one-hundred-odd others. Some participants noticed that those with academic affiliations were given better opportunities to mingle with the great than, say, journalists were, although journalists may be as qualified to write biographies as scholars are. A small group from Boston's north shore and the southern New Hampshire area decided to form a group to build community among biographers and provide mentoring and networking opportunities, and a chance to exchange leads and tips on publishing. Let me know if you are interested in joining and I'll forward your e-mail to someone in the group (until they get a website or an e-mail address they don't mind making public).

Other local biography groups

Los Angeles Biographers. A group of biographers loosely affiliated with PEN meets fairly regularly in Santa Monica, with Kay Mills at its center.

The London-based Biographers Club has fairly frequent meetings, with speakers. Here's a description of the April meeting: Julie Wheelwright, the programme director of the UK's first MA in Creative Writing Nonfiction at City University and author of The Fatal Lover: Mata Hari and the Myth of Women in Espionage, will be talking about 'Where the Truth Lies? An exploration of the challenges biographer and historians face writing in an unstable genre.' Fake memoires, doctored documentaries, nonfiction books outstripping sales for fiction - what does it all mean? Julie Wheelwright explores the pressures that historians and biographers face as access to information explodes while the media increasingly blurs the traditional divide between fact and fiction.