Talk:Dave Barry

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1 Linking Dates
2 Pirate introduction
3 Political Philosophy
4 Atheism
5 Son's Motorcycle accident
6 Two questions: Michelle + a.f.d-b
7 Beth - second wife?
8 Dave Barry For President

[edit] Linking Dates

From the [Wikipedia Manual of Style]

Avoid overlinking dates

If the date does not contain a day and a month, date preferences will not work, and square brackets will not respond to your readers' auto-formatting preferences. So unless there is a special relevance of the date link, there is no need to link it.

year only. So [[1974]] → 1974. Generally, do not link, unless they will clearly help the reader to understand the topic.
month only. So [[April]] → April. Generally, do not link.
century. So [[20th century]] → 20th century. Generally, do not link.
decade. So [[1970s]] → 1970s. Generally, do not link (including an apostrophe (1970's) is incorrect).
year and month. So [[April]] [[1974]] →April 1974 Generally, do not link.
day of the week (with or without other date elements). So [[Tuesday]] →Tuesday. Generally, do not link.

[edit] Pirate introduction

"One of his columns was used (without his permission or objections, or possibly even his knowledge) as the introduction to the book Pirattitude!: So You Wanna Be a Pirate? Here's How! (ISBN 0-451-21649-0)."

This is a silly little paranthetical.

[edit] Political Philosophy

Does he really have "libertarian political leanings"? I'm a big fan, and last I checked, he had "humorist" political leanings. That is, he makes fun of everyone. (By the way, I was flipping through the history... that "booger" thing wasn't a test. Barry really does say that all the time. I can't be bothered to put it back in, though.) --MarkusRTK 17:59, Dec 12, 2004 (UTC)

Yes, Dave Barry is a libertarian (small-l, not big-L). AFAIK, he doesn't push this in his writings, but there have been articles about 'big name' libertarians, and he has admitted to being one. --emb021

Then please cite your source (or sources) about Barry's libertarianism. Where exactly has he admitted to being a libertarian? I think it's odd Barry is categorized as a libertarian but not listed as an American Humorist or an American Columnist. Barry's political convictions are trivia compared with his other accomplishments. Is Barry's alledged political conservatism more important to note in an encyclopedia than his accomplishments as a humor columnist? Notes like this in wikipedia strike me as less about being encylopedic and more about showcasing what's good about one editor's personal politics. Barry's political views have been irrelevant to his humor writings. Should we also categorize him by his blood type or height? Also I am a carrot --User:Astrodominus January 30, 2006

Libertairanism: (n) an ideological belief in freedom of thought and speech.

Libertarian: Someone who advocates liberty, especially in regard to thought or conduct. (Maquarie dictionary)

Being a columnist and writer, it's hardly surprising he'd believe in free speech and thought. Though his background make it interesting. It goes to the type of writer he is. Msandersen

[edit] Atheism

Does he really deserve to be linked to for the list of atheists? I wasn't even aware that he was an atheist until I read this, and his website says nothing about it. --mathx314

He was quoted as saying he was an atheist from an early age. What do you mean "deserve"? What's wrong with being an atheist? --BM 01:27, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I'm not necessarily saying that there's anything wrong with it, it's just that I was completely unaware that he was an atheist until this article, and the article almost makes it sound like he's a spokesperson for atheism and not a humor columnist. --mathx314

As he is not even on the list of atheists, atheism is not a major theme in his work (and I assure you all that I am very familiar with his entire corpse), and the fact is mentioned in the article anyway, I do not believe the inclusion of two atheism related articles in a "see also" section is warrented, and will duly remove them. --indecentproposer

[edit] Son's Motorcycle accident

Didn't his son have a motorcycle accident, and he wrote the only serious column of his career about it? 172.173.30.156 18:13, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

While he did write a serious article after his sons motorcycle accident, it is most definately not his only serious article. He also wrote a serious (and very moving!) article after his fathers death, and he also wrote 2 very serious articles concerning the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Ubergenius 14:25, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Two questions: Michelle + a.f.d-b

I had two questions, both about items not in the article.

(1) The article says that his current wife, Michelle, is often mentioned in his columns. Was she ever mentioned by name? While the columns during his marriage to Beth mention her by name, it's been my observation that all the columns since his remarriage mention only "my wife" (thus anyone who was not aware of the divorce might easily assume he still was referring to Beth).
(2) I didn't see any mention of the newsgroup alt.fan.dave-barry, which was a major newsgroup for quite some time and to which Barry occasionally posted. The group even had some academic members who reproduced comic experiments of Barry's (such as one involving toasters) and posted their results. After his divorce from his second wife, Beth, one or more occasional participants raised the subject of the divorce — which the regulars had been avoiding — and Barry stopped posting to the group, at least for a time.

If we can find a source for this data, both items seem worthy of at least a tiny mention. Lawikitejana 21:17, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, he absolutely does mention his wife, Michelle, by name in some more recent columns, as well as referencing her as "my wife" on other occasions. If you will allow me a day or two, I will dig up some specific examples. Ubergenius 19:31, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Beth - second wife?

"Barry and his second wife, Beth, had one child, Robert, in 1980". When/how long was his first marriage?

That's an error. Beth was his first wife, and his second wife is named Michelle, who is a sports writer. I will change the article, as I had not caught that before. -- Ubergenius 13:38, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Nope. Beth Barry was indisputably Dave Barry's second wife. (To the best of my knowledge, he has never mentioned the first wife's name.) The reason we know she exists is that columns dating from the time of his marriage to Beth reference a previous marriage. See, for instance, the first column in Dave Barry's Greatest Hits, "Why Humor Is Funny", wherein Barry writes, "my former mother-in-law..." (emphasis mine). That column cannot have been written later than 1988; he didn't even meet Michelle until 1992. Changed the information back. Nightsky 19:56, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

I didn't know he was married 3 times, and inferring from articles is never EVER "indisputable". Due to his notable lack of discussion over his divorce, it's entirely possible that he was divorced from Beth when the article was written (hence, "former mother-in-law") yet still has not met Michelle. Do you have any direct evidence (interview, etc.) for this assertation, or are you entirely inferring from his writing (such as "former mother-in-law", etc.)? -- Ubergenius 14:04, 25 September 2006 (UTC)