Biographer of Colin Powell to Give Tips on His Trade
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, Joseph E. Persico ’52, biographer and historian, will share his “Confessions of a Biographer.” to aspiring biographers wanting to know how one gets into the profession, how a subject is chosen, what techniques you use to elicit information from your subject, and how you structure the biography to make it interesting.
This presentation is part of the Fall 1997 Community Conversations series sponsored by the Friends of the Libraries, and will be held in the Mary Elizabeth Cobb Library Conference Room (B43), University Library, from noon to 2 p.m. The public is welcome. Coffee, tea and cookies will be available.
“Others in attendance no doubt will want to know from Mr. Persico what interesting details he found out which were not included in his books, what anecdotes he has about his subjects, and what pitfalls a biographer has to be aware of,” said Dorothy Christiansen, head of the M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives.
“I’m sure Mr. Persico will share with us very many of his ‘confessions of a biographer’ and answer all other questions from the audience.
To date, Persico has authored three biographies, The Imperial Rockefeller: A Biography of Nelson A. Rockefeller (Simon & Schuster, 1982), Edward R. Murrow: An American Original (McGraw-Hill, 1989), Casey: The Lives and Secrets of William J. Casey from OSS to CIA (Viking, 1990), and colaborated with Colin Powell on the general’s autobiography, My American Journey.
Persico, who is chair of this year’s Annual Fund effort in support of University Libraries, received his baccalaureate degree from the University with a dual major in political science and English. He served with the U.S. Information Agency in Argentina and Brazil (1959-1962), and was executive assistant to the New York State Health Commissioner (1963-1966). He originally became a member of Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s entourage as a staff speech writer during the 1966 gubernatorial campaign, and remained as chief speech writer after a victorious election.
Persico accompanied Rockefeller to Washington, D. C. as part of his Vice Presidential staff and worked with Rockefeller until he retired from public life in 1977. In addition to the biographies noted above, Persico is the author of the books Piercing the Reich; The Spiderweb; My Enemy, My Brother: Men and Days of Gettysburg; and Nuremburg: Infamy on Trial. He has also written numerous articles on American history.
For additional information on the Community Conversations’ presentations or the Friends of the Libraries, please contact Dorothy Christiansen, Head, The M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Library B48, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY 12222 (518) 442-3542 or [email protected] (e-mail.)