Truth teller #22 Eleanor Roosevelt

Truth Teller #22 Eleanor Roosevelt. The longest-serving First Lady, Roosevelt was a prolific author of six books and countless articles. At the White House for a time spanning The Great Depression and WWII, she was an advocate for racial justice, an opponent of McCarthyism and advisor to her husband Franklin, bringing new gravitas to the role of First Lady.

  

Starting a New Series Celebrating Truth Tellers

Truth is coercive. We acknowledge this with phrases like “I have to say” or “I must admit.” The truth can also be uncomfortable or downright onerous, those who speak it can become outcasts. Mark Twain wrote only dead men can tell the whole truth in this world. But in a time way too many of our bullshit detectors seem to be malfunctioning, we need truth tellers urgently. So I am starting a series of portraits celebrating truth tellers. This is, I must admit, partly because I am sick of drawing liars. It is my pleasure to introduce Truth Teller #1, Mark Twain

Pete's Pantheon: Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, More Accomplished Than You

It's fun to imagine the profile of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) on Linkedin...

Skills: Linguist (speak almost 30 languages), ethnologist, explorer, cartographer, author, translator, swordsman, spy, soldier, diplomat


Experience: Traveled extensively in India, Africa, United States, South America, Face pierced by javelin thrown by Somali warrior in coastal skirmish, barely escaped with life, (Scars plainly visible still). Came down with malaria while leading expedition seeking the source of the Nile, was among the very first Westerners to visit the Islamic holy cities of Medina and Mecca, where disguised as an Afghan, I measured and sketched the Ka'aba. Worked the world over as a diplomat for Her Majesty, the Queen of England, knighted for services to Queen and country. Published too many books to list here including first Western unexpurgated version of "The Arabian Nights" and the sexual how-to from India "The Kama Sutra". Was also the basis for two characters in the writing of Rudyard Kipling. British consul in several hemispheres including stints in Damascus and Trieste.

References: Henry Morton Stanley, David Livingstone