The Handel Letters: A Biographical Conversation

This work offers a biographical conversation--a hypothetical collective review of the life of George Frideric Handel, his music, his times, and a number of social and philosophical issues still trailing from his full yet enigmatic life. It adopts an ethnographic research perspective, consults a variety of published biographies and videos, and employs a fictional set of characters to examine some letters purportedly written to Handel during his lifetime. Wealthy American mining widow, Forella Wainwright, has her own unusual reason for seeking out any previously unknown information on the life of Handel and brings together a group of ten people who meet over many months to discuss the letters, Handel's life and music, and to consider what lessons they may hold for people today.

Sandra K. Dolby is a folklorist, known primarily for bringing academic attention to the oral personal experience story. She taught for more than thirty years in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University. She served as Director of the Folklore Institute for a brief time and also as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of American Studies. She continues to serve on the Faculty Committee of IU's Individualized Major Program. Publications include Literary Folkloristics and the Personal Narrative and Self-Help Books: Why Americans Keep Reading Them. She has also recorded a number of CDs that include original songs, folk songs, and popular covers. Academic fellowships have taken her to Australia and to Norway. She currently lives in Bloomington, Indiana.