Nowadays, it’s perfectly easy and acceptable to tell the world all about the intimate details of your life. With just a few thumb-swipes, you can upload a photo of your new bangs, post a review of your pajamas, or alert your followers when you’ve checked-in to the dermatologist’s office. If you’re not doing such things, people might start to think you’re being anti-social, stand-offish, or even worse, an old fuddy-duddy.

But rather than stress too much about my infrequent blogging, tweeting, and facebooking, I thought I might take a moment to honor some notable people who somehow pulled off the trick of making a name for themselves while still maintaining private lives that were actually private.

Emily Dickinson

1830-1886

You won’t find one selfie of this woman wearing a flower-crown at Coachella, yet she’s revered as one of the greatest poets of the nineteenth century. And she did it all while hiding from the specter of death in a Massachusetts farmhouse.

Howard Hughes

1905-1976

In his later years, this business tycoon / film mogul / master aviator eschewed the talk-show circuit and, instead, closed the black-out curtains on a Las Vegas hotel room to spend more time growing his fingernails and hiding from germs.

Greta Garbo

1905-1990

While the other stars of the silver screen were granting interviews and showing-off their evening gowns on Oscar night, the mysterious Ms. Garbo sat at home donning a comfortable shroud of shadowy seclusion.

J.D. Salinger

1919-2010

When he wasn’t busy penning classic literature for your high-school English syllabus, this guy was holed-up in Cornish, New Hampshire filing lawsuits against anyone who dared to make him the subject of their publication.

Steve Ditko

1927-2018

The comic artist who brought us mega-heroes like Spider-man and Dr. Strange let his co-creator Stan Lee do all the talking while he remained hunched over a drawing table, shielding his life from the evil gaze of diabolical fans and sinister interviewers.

In celebration of these, and all the other publicity-shy public figures, let us forgo the applause, nod politely, then turn away and honor them with a little bit of the peace and quiet they seemed to cherish.