Ted's Autobiographies

Title: Ted's Autobiographies

Author: Ted Kaczynski

Topic: Autobiographical Writing

Source: Ted Kaczynski. Truth versus Lies, Boxes 66 & 67, Ted Kaczynski papers, University of Michigan Library (Special Collections Library).

Notes: I only know where the first 2 of these 4 autobiographies are located, in that they are archived at the University of Michigan, so I assume the others are held by the FBI or were auctioned away into someones private collection.

SKU: AC

Autobiog of TJK 1958

This is a very brief autobiographical sketch that I wrote as part of my application for admission to Harvard. Its trustworthiness is impaired by the fact that it was written under the close supervision of my mother, and some of the language may even be hers.

Autobiog of TJK 1959

This is a brief autobiographical sketch that I wrote, probably in the fall of 1959, for Professor Henry A. Murray as part of a psychological study in which I participated. Its trustworthiness is impaired by the fact that I resented having been talked into participating in Murray's study and therefore tried to avoid revealing too much about my inner self. I tended to downplay problems rather than speaking about them frankly; specifically, I understated the problems I had during adolescence with my parents and my school mates. Also, see Chapter II, pp. 61, 62.

Autobiog of TJK 1979

This is a long autobiography that I wrote in the early months of 1979. It is a first draft that was never revised; as a result it is rather disorganized and the language is often rough. It should be quite trustworthy, as I was completely honest in writing it, and, while errors of memory are always possible, I believe that any such errors are inconsequential.

Autobiog of TJK 1988

In 1988 I consulted a psychotherapist in Helena, Montana, not with the intention of taking therapy, but in search of practical advice and encouragement in an effort to find a woman for myself. In preparation for the one interview I had with her, I sent her an autobiographical sketch that covered mainly my (always unsuccessful) relations with women. This autobiography is inaccurate to the extent that it omits certain facts that ought to have been included in order to give a balanced picture (e.g., my behavior on breaking off with Ellen Tarmichael), and it misrepresents the feelings I had during a certain period in my life. But statements of concrete facts in the 1988 autobiography are trustworthy except for one error that I am about to mention.