I just adopted Robert Heinlein (Heinlein-42) and would like collaborators

Question

I was trying to make a connection between my Evans line and Robert Heinlein the well known SF writer and found the connect via Robert Lyle his greatgrandfather.  But his was an orphaned profile as was the entire line all the way down to and including Robert.  I adopted the line, but wonder if this is a good idea?  I certainly am willing to be manager of the line as he was always one of my favorite authors even before I knew he was related, but wonder if there are others who would have a better claim to it or would like to help?  ( I'm a 2nd cousin 4 times removed.)

Comments

Dave,

I thought you might like to know that Dr. Jerry Pournelle was a close friend of Heinlein and has the rights to all his fictional characters although he has not used them since his own fiction has kept him fully occupied but FYI.

I appreciate your caution but just do your best as I am sure we all try to do for those we respect from the past.

Paul Evans

Answer 1

Hi Dave! Welcome!

I thought I recalled editing his profile awhile back - I don't think it was much, but I'll see what I can do about digging into his tree a bit further. I've got a few others on my plate right now but I'll try to line him up for the next week or so and see if I can dig up some sources, which usually lead to additional brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and the like and from there - lots of possibilities.

Comments

Yes, you did do editing back in April.  I see the main part of the biography is from Wikipedia.  Is this ok or is the material considered copyrighted and should be replaced?

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Generally it's frowned upon to copy word-for-word from anything, including Wikipedia. While it's not copyrighted, it is plagiarism and generally bad form to do. My teacher in High School would have given me at least a D on my paper for that... maybe an F.

Robert has a fairly well publicized story to tell, and what I prefer to do on Notables is tell their story from a genealogical perspective as you rarely get to hear that side of the story. I try to root it in sourced facts, and show links to where I can reconnect to demonstrate to others where the information can be found, and how they could look up similar information on others like him.

So basic answer, I'd recommend rewriting it and if you want help doing so, I'd be more than happy to assist.

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And I do have one bio that I'm rather proud of that you might want to check out. Look at this profile and see what you think.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ozimov-1

I would think that we could do something like this for Robert as well, or even add some inline pictures if we can find some that are public domain.

Thanks.

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By the way, I ordered the two part biography, by William H Patterson, Jr., which was mentioned by someone and the 2nd volume has arrived.  It's over 600 pages long.  Obviously it will only be possible to cite a small part of the material in the books in his profile, but at least it should be possible to answer any questions people might ask who don't have access to such tomes.

Answer 2

Hi Dave, and WELCOME to WikiTree!

This is a "tag - you're it" kind of thing.  You found the orphan and have the interest, so that makes you the best one to adopt it.  The fact that you're related is frosting on the cake!

It sounds like you get it about collaboration here.  If anyone shows up who is also related and/or interested, they'll ask to be added to the trusted list.  Go for it, Dave - I'm also a Heinlein fan and will be interested to see the profile after you're done with it.  THANX for taking this on!!!

Comments

Of course, he's open to anyone editing right now.  so they might not ask to be put on the trusted list.  In your opinion, should I turn him green, or just leave him white?

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I'm not sure that my opinion is worth a whole lot.  I lean heavily toward as little restriction on privacy as we're permitted, so it's a no-brainer for me to say leave him white.

Sometimes, though, it is necessary to make a profile green to protect it from people who, although trying to contribute, don't know enough about what they're doing and end up messing it up.  This might be the case for a notable, but I don't have any experience with that.  I see that Scott has answered this question - he's the coordinator of the Notables project, so I think he would be the best to advise you on this.

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In general, I lean toward open privacy unless I notice that it's clearly an issue. And even then, I try to work directly with the person who is causing the problem, as in most cases, people generally don't realize they're causing a problem. But it is Dave's profile - he has claimed it now - and if he prefers to lock it to prevent potential issues, then so be it.

But being an eternal optimist,I'd like to think that people will try to help more often than they will try to cause problems, and leaving it open will allow better collaboration.

As far as Privacy Policy goes, WikiTree says, "Profiles of people over 200 years old must be Open." and "Any profile of a deceased person without any sensitive information in it should be Open." So from a policy standpoint, it "should" be open, but it doesn't state that it "must" be open. And since he wasn't born over 200 years ago, it's open to interpretation. You can read more here:

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Privacy

So there's my 2 cents.

Answer 3

Thank you Dave, your post made me smile.  I love Robert Heinlein's books, he is one of the greats.  Thank you for adopting him.

I think he would be a candidate for the Notables Project, and got me thinking about a sub/free-space project for the Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductees.  Would that be something the Notables Project would be willing to sponsor?

Comments

Yes, I like the idea of a SF project.  Count me in if someone gets the project going.

Answer 4

I added a few sources, such as the 1910 census listing his family members, marriage to Lesley, CA death record, links to obit and his wife Virginia's obit.   In the process, I found his authorized biography, written by William Patterson, which is noted on his profile.  It is an extensive text, with many interviews and quotes outlining his life and time in the USN.  It's worth looking at for many more details of his life.

Comments

I guess you were the one who mentioned Patterson's Biography.  I've now got both volumes and just need time to read them and add whatever genelogical info isn't in the profile yet.