Signe Miner, a Northwest Academy freshman, has been passionate about history for as long as they can remember.
Miner has explored this passion through writing essays, their most ambitious project being a 60-page text detailing the life and legacy of British archaeologist, writer and diplomat, T.E. Lawrence, commonly known as Lawrence of Arabia.
Lawrence has been a person of particular interest, and Miner has done extensive research on him.
Michael Korda, the author of Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia, has been particularly inspiring to Miner, who found the combination of academic research and characterization especially impactful.
“[Korda] researched not just what [Lawrence] did, but what he was like as a person,” says Miner. “I’d say [Korda] is my favorite historian.”
“For a while I only read nonfiction history books,” says Miner. “I’d like to write a book someday.”
They initially became interested in history through a curiosity in the Victorian era, but have since branched out to focus on Middle Eastern and Asian history.
Miner’s interest in historical writing accelerated in eighth grade when they were assigned to write an essay on the history of comics, and essay writing became an ongoing endeavor.
“I’ve written some smaller ones, four or five pages, on different historical subjects,” says Miner.
Miner also has a love for reading and drawing comics and the ultimate goal being to connect the two interests.
“I’ve been into comics for four or five years.” they said. “[When] I read my first comic I thought it was amazing and mind blowing. [History and comics] kind of intersect, because [I’m currently] formulating [an idea for] a history comic on T.E. Lawrence.”
While Miner has not published anything, they are considering pursuing a career involving history, and are interested in professions such as teaching, journalism or travel writing.
