On Selecting Biographies

Nancy Lohr

Does your collection of biographies need some new life? Are you always on the lookout for good titles to add to your library hall of fame? Current catalogs list a wide range of biographies from explorers to entertainers, missionaries to actors, and statesmen to sports figures. So how do you choose?

Look for diversity. Search for books that feature worthy people in all walks of life. Try to satisfy diverse interests and reading abilities.

Consider the contribution. Was this person an inventor, a writer, a leader? Why do we remember him and was his accomplishment worthy of your reader’s time?

Think about obstacles. What difficulties were encountered in the biographee’s life? How did he react to problems? How did they shape his life and what did it take to overcome them?

Weigh the impact. Would history be rewritten had this person never lived? Would our lives today be different without his contribution? This can be difficult to determine if the biographee is still living, so it may be wise to wait until the final chapter of his life has been written.

Reprinted from Teacher to Teacher, June 1999.

Used with permission from BJU Press. For permission to reproduce this article, please write BJU Press.