Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William Feather


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Per discovery of new sources and article improvements. (non-admin closure) Winged Blades Godric  07:14, 14 June 2017 (UTC)

William Feather

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Prod'd then restored at DRV. Subject fails WP:GNG and specifically WP:AUTHOR Legacypac (talk) 17:53, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Authors-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 19:26, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Journalism-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 19:26, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Ohio-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 19:29, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Businesspeople-related deletion discussions. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 19:29, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 20:16, 30 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Keep Maybe it is important for the people related to history. I will try to add stuff and do some research. Wikipedia is a good source for History-sensitive articles Prof.Marlin (talk) 11:46, 1 June 2017 (UTC)
 * I love history. Get it past the requirements of WP:AUTHOR and it's fine. Legacypac (talk) 15:33, 1 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Delete -- no indications of passing GNG nor AUTHOR. I'm unable to locate sources that discuss the subject directly and in detail. K.e.coffman (talk) 18:45, 3 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Delete - not particularly notable minor publisher, does not meet GNG.PohranicniStraze (talk) 05:42, 4 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep Notable guy back in the day, beware presentism! Sourcing it now. E.M.Gregory (talk) 00:51, 6 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Anyone have access to the Plain Dealer archive? I was able to access only a snippet of the Plain Deal obit.  It would be good to see the coverage of the battle with the union that drove him form Cleveland. He ran a large printing company; one of the things the company did was to print magazines.  To promote it, he had his own, the William Feather Magazine running stories of interest to businessmen.  Perhaps as a spin off to this, he was syndicated in some form so that little bits of wisdom from his pen appeared in newspapers in cities nationwide.  And some of his bits of wisdom appear in recent book that collect notable bits of wisdom (just scroll through a few pages of a gBooks search on his name.  Also, since he owned the printing plant, he published his own books, but they must have drawn attention since in 1927 one got reviewed in the New York Times and Detroit Free Press, [probably in other papers too.  He also wrote for some of the serious national magazines of the day, and was quoted in the early thirties by journalists trying to figure out what was happening to the economy,  His ideas on the topic were taken seriously.  And he did survive the depression with a big company intact. Hope other editors with access to other archives will add some sources.  E.M.Gregory (talk) 02:24, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

 Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
 * Keep I agree with the presentism caveat. Old school figures do not always have a prominent digital footprint, making the process of finding sources especially challenging. This should be taken into account. References could be improved, but the article has value and should not be thrown out. ToddLara729 (talk) 16:37, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks,  Jupitus Smart  17:06, 6 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep per 's efforts. Some Googling reveals that Case Western's Encyclopedia of Cleveland History states that Feather's writings earned him a "national reputation" ; that H. L. Mencken used some of Feather's work to illustrate a point in The American Language ; and that gBooks produces a citation of Feather as the source of a hoary adage in The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations .  One might be able to minimize each of these, if analyzed separately and with a skeptical eye, but taken as a group they suggest he was a significant writer worthy of encyclopedic attention.  --Arxiloxos (talk) 00:27, 7 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep per recent article improvements; the notability is a bit iffy still, but the inclusion in Encyclopedia of Cleveland history is sort of indicative of notability. An acceptable stub at this point. K.e.coffman (talk) 03:28, 7 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Comment, this article has been prodded twice! here and here, naughty, naughty Coolabahapple (talk) 03:39, 7 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Comment this is one of those tougher cases that requires digging hard to find sources. It looks like it might pass GNG now. Legacypac (talk) 03:49, 7 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep, meets WP:GNG, thanks to sources highlighted by above editors ('keepers' that is:)), have also found a couple of short reviews for The Business of Life: "this is a fairly expansive running commentary on life .. And we have an uneasy premonition that the publishers might possibly be grooming this for the Dale Carnegie market. Consider yourselves- if not encouraged- at least alerted." - Kirkus Reviews and "is a treasure chest of plain talks, homilies and wise thinking. Feather has a deft touch." - The Forum, a little more and we could have a separate article on this book (i wonder if it contains some of his quotable quotes that seem to pop up from "One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells and both think they are astute." to "All the books extolling the simple life are written by men.", not to mention those at wikiquote ("but coola you just did":))), also Erika Andersen referred to Feather ("It seems to me that most people hold one of two opposing definitions of business: they either agree with Feather (and me) that business ...") in this article. Coolabahapple (talk) 07:34, 7 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep per article improvements. Artw (talk) 09:41, 7 June 2017 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.