The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1955-12-02
@ L | M P S { S
OF
THE P A S 7
By CAROLYN LLOYD

Not being an expert on the sub
ject, would not say that Benjamin
Franklin's Autobiography was the
first one written in America, but
l will venture to say that it was
the first one of note. That really
started something in American lit
erature that has taken on new life
at the present time. Just about
every magazine that comes out
these days carries the story of
somebody's life. Everyone who has
done anything of note-and plenty
of people who haven't-seems to
be anxious to tell the world about
his trials and tribulations. Now
I'm reasonably sure that B. Frank
lin did his own writing, since he
was one of the most literate men
of his day; but it is equally GER
tain that most of the modern cele-
brities have ghost writers, some
of whom receive by-lines and some
don't. One such writer explained
recently to the press that he had
been fired by the Duchess of Wind
sor because he couldn't make her
sound like Rebecca of Sunny
Brook Farm. 1t wouldn't be sur
prising to know that many others
have been fired for the same rea-
son.
For some reason / find myself
unable to resist reading these life
stories, but quite often wonder
what possible literary or other
value they could possibly have.
Their success is due, l suspect, to
the Unsuitable curiosity of the
American people about anyone in
the public eye. There is an interest
ing contrast between the autobio-
graphies of American public fig
ures and those of Europeans. The
Americans all seem to have started
at the bottom of the pile and, like
the heroes of Horatio Alger, have
risen to riches or fame. This rise,
of course, has generally been &C
companied by terrible hardships
and overcome only by pluck, tena-
city, and, or, talent. On the other
hand, Europeans seem to have
started at the top of the pile and
are in the process of working down.
ward. Many of them, for some rea-
son, seem to be seeking the SYM
pathy of American readers while
cashing in on the rather fabulous
sums paid by publishers for such
trivia. For instance, the Ladies
Home Journal is currently running
eve Lost Our ThroneT by ex-
Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia.
Just why Americans should be ex-
pected to be upset over it l can't
figure out, since we regularly vote
men out of high office and think
nothing of it. The story proves that
most things, wealth included, are
relative. In one paragraph l read,
81 was too young to understand
that we were very poor. | was
beginning to feel sorry for the poor
little princess when these lines,
several paragraphs later, met my
eye: "Mummie had gone to Venice
and bought a beautiful garden,
nine acres of it, bounded by a la
COON on one side and a lake on
the other. l decided to save my
tears. An expensive private Eng
lish schooling and an estate in
Venice may seem like the trappings
of poverty to an ex-queen who is
still living on the bounty of her
countrymen; but it isn't exactly
the kind of situation to wiring the
hearts of the average American
who works for a living
Still, l am looking forward to
reading the Duchess of Windsor's
story. 1t will be interesting to see
what kind of picture she and her
ghost writer do manage to draw
of a woman who has achieved
wealth and a certain kind of fame
by the simple expedient of getting
married a few times. Surely she
doesn't actually need the money
that she will receive from the
story, since, by all accounts she
and the Duke are we'll provided for
by the royal family or the British
government, whichever it is; so
she must have some axe to grind
in publishing the story of her life.