An Abbreviated Autobiography of a Single-Case Historiometrician

Writing a brief autobiography would seem easy, especially after publishing previously in Clio’s Psyche. The journal and its readership are already familiar. Yet attempting to write an autobiography for this special issue is surprisingly challenging. One difficulty ensues from the fact that I have already published five autobiographical essays spread over three decades in different publications, with the last one appearing not that long ago. In addition, I have been the subject of two excellent biographies that provide a more objective perspective than I can offer: Ryan Daniel’s “Dean Keith Simonton: A truly remarkable contribution to creativity studies that will be one for the ages” in 2021 and Rodica Damian’s “Biography of Dean Keith Simonton” in 2020. Likewise, personal interviews have also been published in which someone else sets the biographical agenda, such as Suzanna E. Henshon’s “The Creative Path: An Interview with Dean Keith Simonton” in 2011 and Taisir Subhi Yamin’s “Dean Keith Simonton” in 2021. Perhaps everything that can be said has already been said, reducing me to compiling and paraphrasing.