What a great event — the 2nd annual B.I.O. conference in DC last Saturday! Thanks to Charles Shields for introducing me to the organization and to him, James McGrath Morris, Barbara Burkhardt, and many others for putting together such a bang-up event. Only a couple hundred attendees, so it felt both intimate and professional. Lively reception Friday evening in the charming garden of Kitty Kelley‘s Georgetown home. Afterward, a late bite with biographers Ellen F. Brown, Kate Buford, Marc Leepson, and Mark’s sweet wife Jana. As for the conference itself, in his lunchtime adress, Robert Caro talked about how important place/setting is in biography. We had a great conference setting — the National Press Club. The sessions, dealing with both the craft and business of biography, were stimulating. And what a thrill to chat with Pulitzer Prize winners Stacy Schiff and Debby Applegate as well as others engaged in the sometimes exasperating, often perplexing, and always inspiring work of biography. Whatever would Cyrus think? Back to such questions and the ancient Near East of 2500 years ago…
