When
rock star Chuck Berry passed away recently, at age 90, news accounts
highlighted his accomplishments and brushes with the law, providing a quick
narrative of a man who is considered legendary.
The only proper way to honor or examine one’s life is to read books by
or about someone. Usually, it’s
recommended that one read several books to get a more well-rounded view of
someone. Of all the things that books
can or should do for us, one of the greatest things is that books can serve as
a legacy and a lasting record of one’s life.
Too
often people get reinvented and revaluated with biographies or their own
memoirs, especially those that are published after one’s passing. Even now, we still have new spins on the
lives of people long gone, including Abraham Lincoln, Jesus Christ, and
others. New information, scientific
evidence, or ways to put a life into perspective come about sometimes decades
or centuries past one’s final days.
Which
is more reliable – books written while someone’s alive or dead?
The book
that comes out while one is alive may lack distance and historical perspective, since the subject is still alive and kicking.
Further, there may be legal or financial reasons as to why something
gets included or excluded from one’s biography or autobiography. But once one dies, these pressures or
influences tend to subside or disappear.
The
book that comes out many years after the subject is dead may lack first-hand
accounts, as those who knew the subject have died off as well. But, the writer who has the advantage of reading
all prior books on the subject allows for a little less
bias on the part of the writer.
In
the era we live in today, biographies can be authorized and even paid for by
the subject. Anyone can self-publish their
story as well. Before one can properly
appreciate and digest a biography, he or she has to have a clear understanding
of the motives behind the writer, when the story was written, and how it
compares to other books about this person or the era he or she thrived under.
I
noticed in a local newspaper’s obituary for Berry, an author of a biography on
him written 12 years ago, was quoted. It
turns out I had promoted him, Bruce Pegg, when his book originally came out, Brown-Eyed Handsome Man: The Life and Hard Times of Chuck Berry. So you see, biographies and memoirs
eventually become the lasting, authoritative texts on one’s life. One’s entire life and contributions or shortfalls, whatever they may be, will live on forever in the books we write.
History is not what actually happened, but how it gets recorded and shared.
History is not what actually happened, but how it gets recorded and shared.
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