User talk:Mvmckenna

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Murder of Kitty Genovese
Hello. I have reverted the material you just added to this article, because it violates our policy on original research and reliable sources. All controversial facts on Wikipedia must be supported by citations from reliable sources, and personal experiences are not considered to be reliable, as there is no way to verify them. The material you added was more appropriate to be put in a blog entry, not in an encyclopedia article. Please take a look at the links to Wikipedia's policies I've provided and learn what is allowed and what isn't before you add material to an article again. Thanks. Beyond My Ken (talk) 02:46, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Sorry if this results in multiple copies = = = I've never done this bit before and I'm near clueless. Anyway --- I am a reliable source - - - I can send pictures of my scars. Hmmm - I'm shy to google myself. How exactly does one get to qualify a a reliable source? Actually - I could name the schools, I could name the trains, I can describe the brown suit the perv was wearing, and ... and ... Sigh -- I know that's not evidence. I didn't even read the NY Times in those days - Long Island Daily Press, maybe, World Telegraph and Sun, but not the times. People talked - imaging that. My old man was so very tight with the cops who handled the case (he was their pension fund manager)but he's long dead and so are they. Kitty's case hit me SO hard - probably because of my own experience at 13. I was working in one of NYC's premiere psych hospitals when she went down (in Greenwich Village)and her murder hit us all hard. I wrote a short story (Subway Boy)and was just editing it tonight when I decided to check on the Wikipedia version. I've checked before and the edits since last I checked really set me off. Sorry about that. Any tips? Hints? Thanks again.

Mvmckenna (talk) 03:17, 9 February 2012 (UTC)


 * You need to go follow this link and read what it is we mean when we say "reliable source." In almost all cases, unless you are a recognized expert in the subject, your experiences, no matter how strong, vivid or pertinent they may seem to you, are not going to be anywhere near enough for that. Think of the story of the blind men all describing different parts of an elephant and coming up with different pictures of what the beast looks like: eyewitnesses and personal experiences are notoriously unreliable and frequently contradictory.  We have enough problems when experts disagree, there's no way we can open the door to non-experts' contributions without seriously damaging our credibility. As I said on my talk page, I donot think there's going to be any way to get your personal thoughts and experiences on the event and the climate of the time in to the article per se, unless it's through citations from reliable sources who agree with you.  That's going to take some research on your part, but i don't see any other pathway. Best, Beyond My Ken (talk) 03:27, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Gee - BYK - what the hell are you doing up so late? Must be on the West coast or sumpin' like that. Whatever. Thanks for your time - this is the last of my responses. Your points are well taken albeit not very satisfying; I guess I'll just have to get the damn story published - actually, it's part of a novel (yes - even novels draw on real-world experiences, so this may be the kick in the butt I need. The commentaries that ticked me off, e.g. "parable" were just so very annoying. Just FYI - as I said previously - my anecdotal remarks are factual (and unverifiable) ditto for this - after Kitty, I never, ever failed to intervene when I thought someone else was in danger - so Kitty's tragedy (and the uproar about indifference that ensued) saved more lives than I care to recount ... the lady in the restaurant to whom I gave the Heimlich maneuver, the guy in the flipped over car in the ditch that the cops had missed, the young man with epilepsy who spasmed, head first, into the Swan pond in Boston Garden, the kid (American) in the storm surf in Rio de Janeiro, the guy being threatened by the idiot with an effing sword - they all owe something to the memory of Kitty Genovese. The people of Vietnam, and the people IN Vietnam, are so far beyond counting I don't even want to think about it. I know it's not all due to Kitty, but I assure you - while the uproar about her death was going on, I swore "I will never, ever, walk away. I will never, ever, ignore you." And, I never, ever have. Regards, Luke and this is The End. Thanks again.
 * Luke: It sounds like it will make a fascinating memoir -- best of luck. Beyond My Ken (talk) 12:31, 9 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Beyone My Ken: Thanks again for your comments. It's taken me more than a yr to respond 'cuz I was on the wrong end of a hit and run ski incident that left me comatose for 2wks and in recovery since. Sigh. FYI - I re-read the KGenovese article and it still gets my eyes wet. DblSigh. Thanks again. Luke.Mvmckenna (talk) 21:21, 30 March 2013 (UTC)