| Abstract: | The author comments on three preceding articles, two by authorsof oral history–based biographies (Sandy Polishuk's biographyof Julia Ruuttila and Catherine Fosl's biography of Anne Braden)and a third by their editor, Deborah Gershenowitz. The authoracknowledges the constraints imposed on the authors of oralhistory–based biographies, both by the refusal of biographicalsubjects to discuss certain matters and by the necessary honingthat editors undertake. While granting the need for author-subjectand author-editor negotiations and revisions, the author (ofthis commentary) insists on the value of pushing boundariesin oral history–based biographies and finds encouragementin the process of dialog, negotiation, and compromise that improvedthe books under consideration. |
