Sherwin cody biography
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How to write a biography
This year I’ve been reading a lot of biographies and writing some short profile pieces. Both experiences have caused me to reflect back on a book-length biography I wrote a few years ago on the little-known educator Sherwin Cody.
I first learned about Sherwin Cody as an adolescent, when I spotted his “remarkable invention [that] has improved the speech and writing of thousands of people” in the back of a comic book. (It turned out to be a patented workbook of grammar exercises.) Many years later, reading about the history of writing instruction, I became fascinated by Cody’s life and career, so much so that I decided to tell his story. The rest is history, or more accurately, biography.
Writing a book-length biography was a new experience for me at the time. I learned a lot along the way. Here are a few tips based on my experience.
Start small—A good way to begin is by writing a short profile of your subject in no more than 1,000 words. Imagine it as a
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Archive Record
A letter regarding information on Simpson St.
A brief biography of Sherwin Cody.
Copy of a 1913 Lake Bluff Chat article written bygd Sherwin Cody expressing ways to keep Lake Bluff beautiful, including front yard landscaping rules.
Copy of a book written by Sherwin Cody's son, Morrill, titled " The Women of Montparnasse, the American in Paris", which includes memories of growing up in the Artist Colony.
1912 History of Lake County biographic blurb about Sherwin Cody.
A letter written in 1991 with upplysning about Cody.
Notes on Cody's life.
Chronological biography of Buffalo Bill.
Scouts Best Ranch brochure.
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Sherwin Cody
Alpheus Sherwin Cody (November 30, 1868 – April 4, 1959) was an American writer and entrepreneur who developed a long-running home-study course in speaking and writing and a signature series of advertisements asking “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?” A critic of traditional English education, Cody advocated colloquial style and grammar. His course, presented in a patented workbook format which he described as self-correcting, was purchased by over 150,000 students from its inception in 1918. He published essays, books and articles virtually nonstop from 1893 through 1950. In a book published in 1895, he gave the advice, "Write what you know—so go out and know something."[1]
Biography
[edit]Born in Michigan, Sherwin Cody was orphaned at an early age and raised by relatives in New England. He attended the Canterbury district school in New Hampshire, Waltham High School in Massachusetts, and in 1885 to Amherst College, where he studied with John