Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bill Adkins

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. -- RoySmith (talk) 01:18, 14 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Bill Adkins (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log · Stats)

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Biography of a person whose claim of notability (receiving the Order of Canada) is referenced only to an 18-word blurbette on the Order of Canada's own self-published website about itself rather than any evidence of reliable source media coverage. While the Order of Canada is a valid notability claim if the person can be referenced to enough reliable source coverage to pass WP:GNG, it is not an automatic inclusion freebie that exempts a person from having to have any media coverage just because it verifies in the Order of Canada's own self-published database -- for one thing, "noted for his work in amateur theater" isn't very specific, and fails to say anything about what his work in amateur theater was: actor? playwright? stage manager? director? lighting designer? janitor? Even with a CM after his name, we still have to be able to say (and reference) quite a bit more about him than just "he existed" before an article is actually warranted. Bearcat (talk) 03:54, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Comment Canadian newspapers have coverage of him over many years. He died in 1982, and his obituary states that he had been stage manager of the Ottawa Little Theatre for more than 50 years (it gives his age, place of birth, when he arrived in Canada, the public service work he did, his wife and children, etc).[1] The first coverage is in a 1935 article with 7 paras about him and his work (as overseer and electrician), 'Back Stage Staff Work Hard For Drama's Success' (The Ottawa Journal [2], then 1942 ("Look For Man Behind Scenes When Play Is Great Success', The Ottawa Citizen (lighting, set designs, set changes) [3], 1945, 46, 47, 48 etc (shorter - a sentence in each article about scenery and stage sets, etc). 1949 - an article about a Teenage Community Corn Festival (which actually seems to have been a drama festival!) - Bill Adkins was directing six other stage managers; article says he has extensive stage managing experience with army shows, the Orpheus Society and the Little Theater [4]. 1951 - several articles, a para in one [5], two paras in an article about a show going to London to represent Eastern Ontario in the Dominion Drama Festival [6]. 1956 - 2 paras [7], 1958 - 1 para [8], and other shorter mentions of his work as stage manager and/or set designer. (Some shorter mentions as "William Adkins" eg in 1960 [9]). 1960, an article in the Ottawa Citizen on 15 October, 'Bill Adkins At L. Theater For 39 Years' [10], and another in the Ottawa Journal on 3 December, 'Bill Adkins Honored' (with a Canadian Drama award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to Canadian theater") [11] (seems to have actually been awarded in March 1961 [12]). (Also reported in the Ottawa Citizen [13] and The Gazette, Montreal [14] 1963 - 'Faces of Ottawa - William Adkins' [15] - about 16 paras, including where he was born, one of 5 brothers, service in WWI, theatre work in WWII, etc). 1967 - a para in an article about 'Ottawa Little Theater' [16]. 1970 - the Little Theater burned down - 3 sentences about Bill Adkins in one piece [17], 1 sentence and 3 paras of quotes from him in another [18]. 1971 - a photo of Adkins and one of the directors at the site of the new Little Theater [19]. 1972 - a sentence in an article on the opening of the new theater [20]. More 1 sentence mentions in reviews of plays in the early-mid 1970s. Also, in 1973, he was among the first people appointed as Members of the Order of Canada [21] (article about the development of the Canadian honors system, with the rank of Member intended to honor "Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to their professions, local organizations and communities"). Another article about nominations says he was "active in the Dominion Drama Festival" [22]. He was described as a "legendary character" in a 2012 article about theater in Ottawa [23]. Certainly enough to compose an article with, if he is considered notable. RebeccaGreen (talk) 08:53, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. Bakazaka (talk) 08:54, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Theatre-related deletion discussions. Bakazaka (talk) 08:54, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Ontario-related deletion discussions. Bakazaka (talk) 08:54, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep I will say Keep based on the coverage I found above, and expand the article based on the information in those sources. RebeccaGreen (talk) 15:22, 5 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep on the basis of Rebecca Green's excellent work. DGG ( talk ) 19:04, 6 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

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.