Talk:John Edward Williams

Plagiarism ?
The following sentences have been copied verbatim from the biographical sketch in the nyrb re-issue of "Stoner" (p. 281): "Despite a talent for writing and acting, Williams flunked out of a local junior college after his first year. He worked with newspapers and radio stations in the Southwest for a year, then reluctantly joined the war effort..." 107.18.186.244 (talk) 23:16, 1 September 2016 (UTC)


 * I have rewritten this material.Themillofkeytone (talk) 22:41, 1 September 2020 (UTC)

Birthplace and early years
Leaving explanatory information here, as I'm changing a critical detail in the biography, and don't want it peremptorily changed back having dug around for this info!

Williams' birthplace is listed in the sidebar as Wichita Falls, TX. And yet the first line of the "Life" section on this page says nothing of this, it simply states something else: "Williams was raised in Clarksville, Texas," with a link to his New York Times obituary.

But that's not what the NYT obituary says! And in fact these biographical details are the wrong way round (although the incorrect birthplace of Wichita Falls has now, understandably, been repeated on dozens of online blogs and news articles, presumably drawing from this Wiki page).

Williams was born in Clarksville, and then raised in Wichita Falls.

This is not only what is actually stated (!) in that New York Times obit ("John Edward Williams [...] was born in Clarksville, Tex." It's also explained in some detail in his biography, Chapter 1: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ga9lDwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&lpg=PP1&pg=PT15#v=onepage&q&f=false

— "It was in Clarksville that Amelia Walker met JE Jewell ... Nineteen months later, she gave birth to a son, John Edward." — "J.E Jewell was comfortable with impermanence ... Together the two men led their families to the next destination, Wichita Falls, the scene of the first memories of the little boy who would become John Edward Williams"

It goes on to state that they were following the Texas Oil Boom taking off in Wichita Falls, and that Jewell "found an apartment [there] for his wife and infant son" while "their eldest daughter, Emma, stayed behind to teach in Clarksville." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kieronshaw (talk • contribs) 22:27, 20 November 2022 (UTC)