Talk:Samuel Robin Spark

When Muriel Spark left her husband, what happened to Samuel Robin?
[| The article on Muriel Spark] says that "In 1940 Muriel left Sidney and Robin." However, this article says "Muriel left him, taking Robin with her."[]

Either Muriel Spark left Samuel Robin with his father or she took him with her when she left her husband. They both can't be right. Which article is true? Michael Glass (talk) 00:59, 8 September 2016 (UTC)

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Muriel's religion
According to souces at Muriel Spark, his mother was raised as a Presbyterian. This article says she converted to Catholicism but it implies that she was previously Jewish. Probably need to fix this. - Sitush (talk) 08:52, 23 June 2018 (UTC)

I also think there may be stuff to be had from this obituary. According to that, he converted to Judaism, was married and was not entirely abandoned by his mother. Her failure to attend his bar mitzvah had nothing to do with him but rather the possibility of his father being there. To be honest, this article comes across as a bit of a hit job given the number of sources out there which adopt a more measured tone. And it also seems that his relationship to his mother was his prime claim to fame, not his work as an artist. - Sitush (talk) 09:02, 23 June 2018 (UTC)

Jewish (Grand) Parents?
Muriel Spark had a single Jewish parent - her father. Despite Robin's claims of Jewish ancestry on both sides of his mother's line, there seems to be no evidence Muriel's mother, Robin's grandmother, was an observant Jew in the slightest or raised as one.

Robin always promoted his Jewish background, perhaps partly because his mother played down hers and the two didn't get on. But the fact remains that Muriel would not be Jewish in the traditional sense since it comes down through the mother. She was also a Christian her entire life, being a Catholic convert in later life.

Robin could thus claim Jewish ancestry, but his claim to be born a Jew is inaccurate and he was essentially a convert of fractional Jewish ancestry. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.89.158.97 (talk) 20:44, 15 September 2018 (UTC)

Robin Spark
I've always known this man by this form of his name, not his full name. By many accounts a very cantakerous and contrarian man. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A01:4C8:1408:8A4D:1:1:A2CB:51B (talk) 10:23, 5 July 2019 (UTC)


 * Yes, I've always known him as Robin Spark. Without going too much into Freudian territory, he evidently had a bizarre relationship with his mother and this probably explains some of his psychological issues (along with his father's mental health). It seems unclear if Robin's conversion (because it was that) was a rebellion against a mother who had both abandoned him, and Judaism (so he thought - her father did that, not her).-109.249.184.166 (talk) 11:19, 18 December 2020 (UTC)