Jill Ker Conway

The Art of Autobiography (76 minutes)

Listen Online

Jill Ker Conway, historian and educator, analyzes the public's fascination with autobiography and the circumstances that led her to write her own history.

Jill Ker Conway was born in 1934 in Hillston, New South Wales, Australia, received her B.A. from the University of Sydney in 1958, and her doctorate from Harvard in 1969. Ms. Conway's most recent book, True North (Knopf), starts with her arrival from Australia in 1960 and continues through her acceptance of the presidency of Smith College in 1975. Professor Conway vividly portrays her acculturation to North America and her discovery of the world of intellectual, energetic women. She discusses her marriage to John Conway--a war hero and Harvard house master--and their year-long European honeymoon, during which she came to grips with the reality of John's manic-depressive disorder.