Biography is a tool not only for learning about the accomplishments of historical figures, but also for learning about good character and the times in which they lived, speakers at this week’s Center for Constructive Alternatives seminar said.

Hillsdale College’s third CCA of the academic year, “The Art of Biography,” ran Feb. 4-7.

Roger Kimball, editor and publisher of The New Criterion, spoke on Sunday afternoon on “Plutarch and the Art of Biography.” 

“Plutarch’s goal was emulation,” Kimball said. “He wrote about famous men of the past primarily to disclose their virtues in order that we might aspire to embody those virtues.”

Kimball mainly discussed Plutarch’s work “Parallel Lives,” which consists of 23 pairs of Greeks and Romans who, in Plutarch’s view, shared similar destinies, such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar.

“His general procedure was to write the life of a prominent Greek and cast about for a suitable Roman counterpart,” Kimball said.

According to Kimball, 19 of the pairings include a brief footnote describing the similarities between the two figures, and Kimball believes that at one point all of them likely had similar notes.

Jonathan Eller, author of “Bradbury: Beyond Apollo,” spoke Monday afternoon about author Ray Bradbury.

Eller talked of Bradbury’s writing career and his inspirations for writing “Fahrenheit 451,” namely Arthur Koestler’s “Darkness at Noon.”

“Arthur Koestler got it,” Eller said. “This book had a tremendous impact on Ray Bradbury, even before he was thinking of writing that book of an inverted world where firemen start fires instead of putting them out.”

Eller spoke of Bradbury’s writing style, which in turn inspired John Collier and Stephen King. 

“Ray is the writer who takes the supernatural, traditional, gothic tale out of the forest and out of the castle, and puts it in small towns and suburbs,” he said.

Troy Senik, co-founder of digital media site Kite and Key Media, spoke Monday evening about the life and presidency of Grover Cleveland.

Senik said the idea that Americans regard Cleveland as an average to below average president is a new one.

“Grover Cleveland was not by any means regarded as a marginal president in his own day or in the generations that followed,” Senik said.

Senik cited a 1948 survey that ranked Cleveland the eighth-best president, just behind Theodore Roosevelt. Senik said that currently, Americans judge Cleveland with standards for modern presidents.

“If the way we think about presidents is going to be in any way coherent, we have to find a way to judge them that is responsive to what the office was when they held it,” Senik said.

Junior Brian Knewtson said he found Senik’s lecture on Cleveland particularly interesting. 

“I appreciated how much the speaker had to convey about a president we did not know much about,” Knewtson said. “It was a good choice for the CCA to talk about someone who was known for good moral character.”

Anne Keene, author of “Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II,” spoke Tuesday afternoon about professional athletes who served in World War II. 

Keene said the military valued sports experience. 

“There were about 2,000 cadets on base at one time that were shipping in and out, but one of the requirements was you’ve got to play on a team,” she said.

Keene’s lecture focused on Red Sox legend Ted Williams’ time in the military and away from the bright stadium lights. 

“It was a really treasured time in his life,” she said. “It’s because he was treated like Joe Average. He was just one of the guys. It relieved some of the celebrity pressure from him.”

Keene also spoke about the connections Williams made with other players and coaches such as Don Kepler and Babe Ruth.

The CCA concluded with a faculty roundtable on Wednesday afternoon.

“The art of biography is about getting into the soul of a person, seeing the world through the person’s eyes,”  Professor of History Brad Birzer said. “The biographer holds the high duty of being humane, while also holding faithfully to the facts of his subject’s life.”

The fourth and final CCA of the academic year is scheduled for March 3-7 and will discuss “The American Musical.”