author
Mary Greer Conklin
1870–1943
Best remembered for a lively early-20th-century guide to conversation, this American writer turned everyday talk into a subject full of wit, tact, and practical advice. Her work reflects a time when manners and social ease were treated as real skills worth learning.
1 Audiobook
Conversation : What to say and how to say it
by Mary Greer Conklin
About the author
Mary Greer Conklin was an American author born in 1870 and died in 1943. She is chiefly known today for Conversation: What to Say and How to Say It (1912), a book that explores the art of speaking well, listening closely, and moving through social situations with confidence.
Records of her life are fairly limited, but library and public-domain sources show that her writing found a lasting audience. Conversation has remained accessible through major digital archives, which suggests that her clear, practical approach continued to interest readers long after its first publication.
What makes her appealing now is how recognizable her subject still feels. Even though she wrote in the early 1900s, her central idea—that good conversation depends on curiosity, judgment, and consideration for other people—still sounds familiar.