Talk:John Barnes (author)

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Area of expertise[edit]

First, I corrected Barnes's area of expertise: he is trained in and taught theatre, focusing on technical/production history (I didn't put that last bit in, since I can't find the authority for his grad training). He is certainly familiar with semiotics, but I doubt that he would describe himself as a full-time semiotician, especially since (IIRC) he's left teaching. I'll dig up his academic history and post it as part of the bio.

Second, I wonder whether there's a need to reproduce that whole passage on his marriages--a summary with maybe a crucial quotation should do the job. In this form, the article suggests that the most interesting thing about JB is gossip about his marital history--this for a guy with a pretty distinguished writing career. When I feel stronger, I'll put something together--I've reviewed most of his work for Locus and can supply at least a reasonable annotated bibilography and an account of his themes and obsessions. RLetson 21:00, 6 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Well I'll be dipped--Barnes does call himself a semiotician (on his Amazon profile page)--though I'd maintain that he's about half joking. So the contributor who added the line about "work[ing] in the field of semiotics" might want to consider not necessarily reversion but a way of including JB's self-description--I'd suggest something like this:

Barnes has a doctorate in theatre and for several years taught at Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, focusing on technical/production history. He has also described himself (perhaps partly in jest) as a "consulting semiotician for business and industry." (insert note and link to the Amazon profile [[1]]) (Probably want to include the fact that he is no longer teaching but [maybe] writing full time, if that can be confirmed.)

My apologies for doing an edit off the top of my head, without checking the facts. (But it really is a half-joke--"consulting semiotician" is not a standard gig, even for a liberal-arts Ph.D.) RLetson 04:56, 21 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that quoting half the Acknowledgment section was unnecessary, also possibly not fair use. I edited that section down quite a bit. —johndburger 22:30, 19 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

References?[edit]

Lede comments are not sourced, may be original research. the section on his marriages is truly nonnotable, compared to what he is noted for, his novels. will attempt to balance.Mercurywoodrose (talk) 04:29, 16 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

BLP Noticeboard discussion[edit]

This article and its subject are under discussion at Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard#John_Barnes_.28author.29. — Jeff G. ツ (talk) 04:24, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This discussion was archived to Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard/Archive138#John Barnes (author). --Marc Kupper|talk 20:22, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Autobiographical editing[edit]

According to WP:AUTOBIOGRAPHY, John Barnes is strongly discouraged from editing this article. You are welcome, Mr. Barnes, to propose changes based on reliable sources, but let experienced, disinterested editors make any changes. You don't get to decide what is "irrelevant" in this article. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 04:57, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]