Talk:J. B. Priestley

University of Bradford Library
Think it might be worthwhile mentioning somewhere that the University of Bradford's main library is named The "J B Priestley Library" after him? --81.101.136.128 (talk) 18:55, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

The current article (as at 03/07/09) says that the University library was named after his death. I'm pretty sure it was named after him from the point that the current building was put up. It was already known by that name in 1974 when I started at the university. I'm also surprised there is no mention of the statue of JBP outside the National Film and Photograhy Museum in Bradford.

The 31st of June
No mention of this novel of his -- great book, I wonder why it isn't listed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.103.142.181 (talk) 02:15, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

AA Milne, JK Rowling
I've removed the following recent additions, which seem improbable, and may be vandalism (that is to say, intentional damage to Wikipedia):


 * After a short spell in the cotton factories he took an aprentiship with A.A Milne and she taught him a lot about what he knew and taught him about writing from his heart as he said in a newspaper later on in his life.


 * He became a friend of the writer J.K Rowling and he inspired her to become the writer she is today. She also took writing lessons with him at an early age. So many say that he is the man behind the Harry Potter series.

When Priestley died, Rowling was about 19. A friendship between the two is improbable, though not impossible. A friendship with Milne, more or less a contemporary, is more possible, but the saccharine wording of the paragraph has a bogus air that would be difficult to reconcile with Priestley's work. Moreover both additions were made, without sources, in the same edit. --Tony Sidaway 15:36, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Yes, very suspect. He was never in a cotton factory. After leaving school, he worked as a clerk in a wool-sorter's office in Bradford, Yorkshire, a long-established wool centre.(86.140.6.209 (talk) 23:49, 14 April 2009 (UTC)).

The fact that the author of the segment thinks that AA Milne (Alan Alexander) is a woman would also make me suspiciousOzwaldowl (talk) 15:28, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Letters from the first world war
Maybe someone would introduce this material to the J.B. Priestley article http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/nov/16/books.booksnews--User:Brenont (talk) 02:41, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Some extracts from these can be found in the Vincent Brome biography of the author.(86.140.6.209 (talk) 23:49, 14 April 2009 (UTC))

Where did the 'B' come from?
(Hope this query is not outside the Wiki guidelines) He was actually christened plain John Priestley. Any ideas about the mysterious insertion of 'Boynton'?(86.140.6.209 (talk) 00:05, 15 April 2009 (UTC)).

Incidently im not sure Priestly was a 'regular prostitute on the BBC'```` —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.11.23.211 (talk) 19:28, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Refused Honours
Suggest that this information be included.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/honours-list/9039608/Official-JB-Priestley-Roald-Dahl-Lucian-Freud-and-LS-Lowry-among-277-others-turned-down-honours-from-the-Queen.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.29.232.53 (talk) 22:01, 26 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Already in, but thanks for the nudge—reference now added. --Old Moonraker (talk) 14:43, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Introductory Paragraph
" His output included literary and social criticism."

It can be sourced? It should be longer too. Justicejayant (talk) 13:00, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

Vandalism?
The list of his novels has recently been added-to with 'King of Lies (2013)'. Is this a new discovery, or just vandalism? Valetude (talk) 23:44, 24 October 2014 (UTC)
 * In the absence of any answers, I have deleted this and another entry that is clearly vandalism. Valetude (talk) 15:36, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

Hits you over the head? Inappropriate
In the Careers section, referring to An Inspector Calls

"It 'hits you over the head' with his views on socialism"

Really? I think that is debatable (the play is powerfully motivated by his views on social justice but there is nothing explicitly Socialist in the text) and the language inappropriate. Quotation marks are used but no reference is cited. There's nothing wrong with emphasising the social concerns of the play but some reference to public reception and critical opinion should be given and less inflammatory languge used. Itsbruce (talk) 10:04, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on J. B. Priestley. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20150706082044/http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/whats_on/event_detail.html?id=2545 to http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/whats_on/event_detail.html?id=2545

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 04:42, 29 August 2015 (UTC)

Lede
"A career which straddled the 20th century" would only have been possible if he had one (mixed) metaphorical foot firmly planted in the 19th century and the other in the 21st, like many of these people; and he didn't. >MinorProphet (talk) 17:15, 16 February 2016 (UTC)
 * MinorProphet: Agreed. It wouldn't be too BOLD for you to go ahead and replace "straddled" with whatever you consider a more felicitous expression Noyster (talk),  21:33, 16 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Boldly replaced with felicitous silence, plus a couple of reliable refs. >MinorProphet (talk) 12:57, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 19:15, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Fully protected
This article is fully protected due to an edit war. Please discuss that dispute, or separately post unrelated edit requests. Thank you. Samsara (talk) 15:38, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Sourcing of criticism
Thank you for the personal message (PM). Wikipedia requires all article content to be verifiable from reliable sources. The relevant policy is WP:RS. In the present case, a writer's own words are not regarded as reliable comment on themselves (writers often bend reality to literary effect). Rather, it is necessary to source any criticism from a reputable and independent third-party source. Also, a Wikipedia editor may not pass unsourced judgement on any factual matter, as that amounts to original research WP:OR which is not what Wikipedia is for. For example to claim that Priestley was racist requires a source which says that "Priestley was racist" or similar, one cannot rely on his own writings and judge that they are racist. I have not seen the original context for his remarks but, assuming they stand alone as you portray them, I would have expected a reliable authority to have commented on it - until that can be dug out, the article should avoid making unsupported claims. Finally, you used abusive language in your value judgement and that is always unacceptable in a Wikipedia article, even if you are quoting an abusive remark by someone else. Phew! Hope that makes things a bit clearer. &mdash; Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 18:49, 23 January 2017 (UTC)
 * What is required are sources such as The Independent, for example, or this book or this one, etc; there's plenty more where they came from. A word of caution: avoid the word 'racism' as that's possibly WP:SYNTH, and certainly anachronistic. But 'prejudice' would be precise. Cheers, O Fortuna!  ...Imperatrix mundi.  13:09, 24 January 2017 (UTC)
 * ping, as FYI. O Fortuna!  ...Imperatrix mundi.  13:13, 24 January 2017 (UTC)
 * So if I unprotect, can an edit be made that resolves the dispute? Samsara 12:22, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Would this be acceptable to you, per the sources presented? Samsara 12:41, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I told you, I'm outta here. Too much kneejerk smugness for my taste. I only came back out of politeness to reply to JJS1780‎‎'s PM. &mdash; Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 13:08, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Unprotected. Samsara 14:32, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Do you want me to make that edit? Sorry not to be clear earlier- I only provided the sources here as a form of dispute resolution; I didn't have a dog in the race, just saw it on RC. I wonder if the text should be formed along the lines of '' Thoughts? O Fortuna!  ...Imperatrix mundi.  12:38, 27 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Yours seemed to me to be a solution that addresses both sides' concerns. Unusually, neither of them are now commenting further, but it makes sense to me to nonetheless address the issues highlighted. The particular edit you've recommended reads well, so keeping in mind that I also was drawn here purely to resolve the controversy, I would encourage you to make it, and consider it the new and current consensus. Samsara 13:18, 27 January 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on J. B. Priestley. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070603075024/http://www.gnbooks.co.uk/books/1905080182.shtml to http://www.gnbooks.co.uk/books/1905080182.shtml

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 14:54, 18 November 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on J. B. Priestley. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120404180350/https%3A//update.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/document2012%2D01%2D24%2D075439.pdf to https://update.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/document2012-01-24-075439.pdf

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 09:48, 6 December 2017 (UTC)

His politics
These would merit a separate section, perhaps quite detailed. The current paragraph about his prejudice against the Irish would belong in such a section, perhaps mentioning that his mother was from an Irish family, which he never mentioned in any of his writings. Valetude (talk) 23:59, 21 July 2019 (UTC)

Half-sister?
In all his voluminous non-fiction, about half of it relating directly to his youth in Bradford, there is not a single mention of his half-sister. He clearly goes to great lengths to keep her out of the picture, referring to himself as his father's 'only son', but never as his 'only child', as we detect only when we look closely. There might be a story here, possibly connected to his relationship with his future second wife Jane Wyndham-Lewis, while the first wife was dying of cancer. Valetude (talk) 00:12, 22 July 2019 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
Prior content in this article duplicated one or more previously published sources. The material was copied from: Man Or Muppet song. Copied or closely paraphrased material has been rewritten or removed and must not be restored, unless it is duly released under a compatible license. (For more information, please see "using copyrighted works from others" if you are not the copyright holder of this material, or "donating copyrighted materials" if you are.)

For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or published material; such additions will be deleted. Contributors may use copyrighted publications as a source of information, and, if allowed under fair use, may copy sentences and phrases, provided they are included in quotation marks and referenced properly. The material may also be rewritten, provided it does not infringe on the copyright of the original or plagiarize from that source. Therefore, such paraphrased portions must provide their source. Please see our guideline on non-free text for how to properly implement limited quotations of copyrighted text. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously, and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. While we appreciate contributions, we must require all contributors to understand and comply with these policies. Thank you. ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 15:33, 29 September 2022 (UTC)