Talk:Alan Coren

Age
On the 15th June 2007 Alan jested on The News Quiz that he loved Wikipedia as it made him appear one year younger. He said that every morning he gets up, has a cup of coffee, and then checks wikipedia to see if it had been corrected. If so, he said, he changes it back. The history for this page, unfortunately, gives the lie to that anecdote. Murkee 17:45, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Mr Coren said on Radio 4's News Quiz on 15 June 2007 at around 17:38 UTC that people amend his age in the article. Straight afterwards, there were frequent amendments. The page was then locked. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pauldanon (talk • contribs) 17:39, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I added the following paragraph, only to have the page protected before it could be committed.

What does "give the lie" mean above, please?


 * "The lie" in question is the lie that he is a year younger than he really is. He said that he edits the year so it makes him look younger. Also, Alan Coren's mention of Wikipedia has been included on the article about Wikipedia in culture. ISD 18:56, 15 June 2007 (UTC)


 * In fact, Alan suggested in the programme (15th June 2007) that in the article he was one year younger, that someone had corrected it, and that he himself had edited the article to revert back to the wrong age. Although this would be an amusing anecdote, in fact the history of the article shows no such thing. There are two specific references to 1939 as his birth date. These were both corrected, at two different times, and neither of them was reverted. If you are reading this Alan, nice try, but Wikipedia rules!--TonyFleet 10:56, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Why have you locked up Alan? You have determined his birth in 1938, but there are a number of references to his being born in 1939, , ,, , etc. etc. but Tim! has decided anything other than 1938 is "vandalism". This is the worst form of Wiki censorship by the privileged class of administrators and makes the rest of us think that Wikipedia is just silly. Lift the barriers and let the people decide. Consensus rules. Frank --86.151.153.210 09:47, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Please read WP:BLP, poorly sourced material is not allowed on the articles pertaining to living persons on wikipedia. As you have made no attempt to provide reliable sources when you edited this article it stays semi-protected for now. Also, nothing is stopping you from creating an account from which you would be able to edit the article, or you may use editprotected on the talk page to ask for an administrator to make an edit for you. Tim! 09:58, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * With respect, Tim!, I have not edited this article and I cannot edit this article as you have protected it, I have provided references for 1939 as adequate as those to the article for 1938. I have requested an end to the semi protection but this was not allowed as you provided an incorrect reference to an edit of another article. If I were to create an account how long would I have to wait before I could edit the article? Frank --86.151.153.210 11:05, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * OK, registered. Let's see how long it takes to edit the article. --Frank Ness 19:07, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You might as well mention WP:CABAL too, since he seems insistent that the evil communist Wikipedia overlords are censoring the true word of the people, suffocating our rights to freedom and murdering small children while they sleep. Damn those administrators, damn them. —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ 16:07, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * What a waste of space. Frank --86.151.153.210 10:33, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Vanderdecken's contribution today, sorting out the references I added to sources showing Alan Coren's being born in 1939 rather than 1938 are much appreciated. Thank you very much Vanderdecken. --Frank Ness 09:46, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

editprotected
 * It is requested that a note be placed in the article there are a number of references to Alan Coren's being born in 1939 rather than 1938, hence attempts to record this, now blocked by semi-protection. They are:, , ,, , . They are as valid as the references given to 1938 to which WP:BLP could also apply. Frank --86.151.153.210 10:33, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * This page is semiprotected; any username more than a few days old can edit it. There is no need for administrator assistance to edit this page. &mdash; Carl (CBM · talk) 19:39, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * How many days? (Sigh). Then why did Tim! suggest this as a solution? --Frank Ness 20:09, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much Carl (CBM · talk) for removing the semi-protection and allowing me to edit a few days early.--Frank Ness 05:36, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Well today, 27 July 2007, it shows his year of birth as 1837. I think that's possibly adding a few years to his age. Mind you, it would explain why he hasn't added anything to the Times comment page for a while.

I've checked the GRO index of births, and there is an Alan Coren registered at Hackney in the July-September quarter of 1938 (index is by quarter of registration, not quarter of birth, so this is consistent with a June 1938 birth). There is no entry for the Apr-Jun or Jul-Sep quarters of 1939, so we have a reliable (indeed definitive) source that puts his birth in 1938. Mayalld 11:00, 19 October 2007 (UTC)


 * And now there are obituaries :( -- !! ?? 09:19, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

Jewish Telegraph
In reference to the ping pong match being played out on the main page, this quote might be of interest:"Alan Coren was Jewish, too. The week he became editor of Punch there was a huge profile of him in The Jewish Chronicle. Coren was somewhat embarrassed. 'This is ridiculous,' he said, waving it at us. 'I haven't been Jewish for years!' -- The Independent"Whether it's worth including, I couldn't say, but the source, an obituary written by someone who knew Alan Coren quite well, could be worse. --Turnipface 10:05, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks very much for the source, thats one of my issues resolved! However, I don't like the idea of such a quote being in the main article. However about saying "Jewish born", instead of just Jewish, and then in a footnote and reference quoting the above with ref. Is this alright with others?--UpDown 11:57, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Since it was I who originally inserted the "I haven't been Jewish for years" remark, may I just say that I couldn't remember the source of the quotation (in the Independent), but managed to find it before I read Turnipface's contribution above. Indeed, I have now re-inserted it into the main article, in a more appropriate place. Nevertheless, I think this says quite a lot about Alan's public attitude to his religious origins - I have little idea about his private feelings - and think that the sentence removed should be re-inserted. Comments? Hair Commodore 19:44, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
 * What sentence?--UpDown 20:23, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Unless I'm missing something, I think what UpDown is trying to express is that the quote is still in the article. --Turnipface 20:34, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Indeed.--UpDown 20:36, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
 * The sentence - my quotation - namely: "His tongue must have been firmly in his cheek, however - because, in public at least, Alan wore his religion lightly" was what I was referring to. This explains my remarks above. (It was removed by UpDown.) My apologies once again for commiting my thoughts without sufficient care, when in a hurry! Hair Commodore 19:05, 11 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I don't like "His tongue must have been firmly in his cheek" - its sounds a very uneyclopedia sentance, and is also assuming what he meant. Thats for the reader to decide not us. Also saying "Alan wore his..", we don't normally refer to people by the firstname.--UpDown 20:04, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

Seems to be some misunderstanding here about the difference between being of the Jewish race, and being of the Jewish faith. These can be, and often are, distinct categories. To my sure and certain knowledge, using one of Alan's favourite phrases, there are atheist Jews, orthodox Jews, don't-give-a-bugger-about-religion Jews, and a whole range of positions in between. Coren now and then made coy allusions to his convictions; for example, his Times Diary piece re his visit to Marie Lloyd's grave, and his many funny, but withal respectful parodies of Genesis and other Old Testament texts. What he actually believed can never be known with certainty, and is somewhat irrelevant, IMNSHO, though I rather think he might have agreed with me re matters of wossname, theology, narmean?

As for the equally rather irrelevant matter of his exact birthdate, I'm surprised, but only mildly, that neither Giles nor Victoria has taken matters in hand here, they being, at the time of writing, both extant and literate. 2001:44B8:3102:BB00:30D0:11D9:B66D:2B15 (talk) 00:14, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

Death
Which cancer? F W Nietzsche (talk) 20:28, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

The Daily Mail and the IMDb say that he died from lung cancer, but how accurate those sources are is questionable. The Daily Mail said the day after he died that they had that information from the family, but because after all these years the entry in Wikipedia has not been altered to specify which cancer, I think one can safely assume that was the Daily Mail misreporting. The broadsheets did not specify which type of cancer he died from. -P123cat1 (talk) 13:12, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Is being Rector an honourary position?
It mentions that he was the Rector of St. Andrews University, but calls it an “honourary” position. As it is a position created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, enshrined in the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858, and follows a democratic election, it may be an honour to hold, but surely is more than “honourary”? I agree that some university Rectors may be nominated and elected as student stunts, but many actively participate in University affairs on the part of their electorate, and are part of an important aspect of student representation. Jock123 (talk) 13:15, 13 December 2012 (UTC)
 * An 'honorary' position is one for which the holder is unpaid. Not a few organisations have honorary executive officers, whose involvement is direct and influential, but not remunerated. Vide Peter Ustinov's incumbency as Rector of St Andrew's and his very real intervention in a matter of student politics. The Rectorship is much more than a ceremonial role; that is not the meaning of 'honorary.' 2001:44B8:3102:BB00:30D0:11D9:B66D:2B15 (talk) 00:32, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

Cleanup
Someone should transform this "article" from a list of bullet points into actual writing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.246.2.239 (talk) 13:54, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
 * WP:Be bold. Qwfp (talk) 19:12, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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Alan Hackney?
Just got hold of a copy of 'Pick of Punch' for 1966. A couple of pieces in there by Coren, and by someone called 'Alan Hackney'. The latter have Coren's stylistic fingerprints all over them, seems to me; working-class argot lovingly and phonetically reproduced, including Coren's trademark 'sunnick' ('something'). So... pseudonym ? 2001:44B8:3102:BB00:6525:1546:C0C7:5654 (talk) 20:56, 7 September 2018 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 14:52, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Alan Coren.jpg

An appreciation?
Is anyone out there planning to write a considered, large-scale, and well-researched appreciation of Coren’s work? Yes, he was funny. That’s a given. He could also be profound, a sharp socio-political observer and critic, a master of parody and pastiche, and I’d do it myself except that I’m Australian, not a Brit, and I belong to a generation not of Coren’s, and I have no entrée into his world either private or professional.

Anyone? 121.44.8.105 (talk) 05:12, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

birthplace?
Hackney or East Barnet? MongogramForCandy (talk) 14:52, 18 October 2022 (UTC)