Talk:George Plimpton

Martha Plimpton

Was he related to Martha Plimpton? Mswake 19:08, 27 Sep 2003 (UTC)

If you cared you could just look at Martha Plimpton's Wikipedia page. She's an 8th cousin once removed.John Simpson54

External links

Please don't link to pages that don't work. Unless you register witn the NYT, you only ever get an error message and a spruik. Tannin 08:43, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

It works just fine if you register. So register. Use a fake address if you like, it won't reject it. - Someone else 08:49, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

It doesn't work if you don't have cookies enabled. I don't like it when articles link to sites that require registration. -User:64.105.208.150

Yet they provide information for those who don't mind. I imagine if you propose "no links to sites which require cookies or registration" as official Wikipedia policy, you'll find supporters, but it does seem an odd proposition to me. -- Someone else 08:57, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Oh give us a break. This ain't about cookies or paranoia, nor is it anything in the least "odd", it's about having links that actually work when you click on them. For the vast majority of net users, the NYT does not work. If there is something of value to be learned from the NYT article, then why not precis it and put that information in the article where it belongs - and where it is available to all web users, not just the few that are registered by the NYT. Tannin 09:55, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

I believe that's essentially what happened on this article, and so the link really should remain as a reference, even for those who won't use it. Meanwhile, I've found the answer to "Are Martha Plimpton and George Plimpton related?: they are said to be very very distant cousins. -- Someone else 10:26, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Fair enough. In general, I think our policy is not to link to NYT and other sites that require registration, but to find open-to-the-general-public sites instead. (I recall others (Eloquence maybe? can't remember) taking the "don't link to NYT" line.

But now for the $64 question: who is George Plimpton anyway? I never heard of him. ;)

No need to answer that - I can always read the Wikipedia article if I want to. Hell - I could register for the 4th time with the NYT, and forget my password for the 4th time a little later - if you don't visit sites more than once every three months or something, you can never remember your password. And in my case, I regularly use about 12 different computers, so for most of my passwords I don't have them saved anywhere and have to rely on the old Mark One braincell. The long and the short of it is that the buggerising about I have to do to read the NYT just isn't worth it. I imagine that the same applies to most people.

(unrelated, but NYT can be accessed with the guest1/guest1 combo -- sugarfish 02:58, 30 Sep 2003 (UTC))

However, although it is conventional (and proper, I think) not to link to passworded web sites, we are perfectly happy to list references that are on paper. No-one can click on a ref to a book title and just read it right away! So maybe there is a case for the NYT-style places, but set off from ordinary, directly clickable links so as to abide by the "least surprise" rule. I'll make a little edit in a moment. See what you think. Tannin 11:01, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)

fair warning is certainly fair. As to who is GP anyway? Nathaniel Gay and Rebcca Kingsbury begat Calvin Gay, who married Joanna Kingsbury, and begat Susanna Gay, who married Henry Plimpton, who begat Calvin Gay Plimpton, who married Priscilla Guild Lewis, and begat George Arthur Plimpton, who married Frances Taylor Pearsons, and begat Francis Taylor Pearson Plimpton, who married Pauline Ames, and begat, lo, George Ames Plimpton (in his turn marrying and begetting, but we have reached our endpoint, and there is nary a Martha among them....). -- Someone else 11:18, 29 Sep 2003 (UTC)~

;)

Interview with Chris Cerf, questions wanted

Got a question for Chris Cerf? Cerf worked with Plimpton at Random House during the 1960s. Post your questions before 25 April 2005. -- Zanimum 18:11, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

photo in infobox

Whenever I put a photo in biography infobox the photo becomes so big that it becomes stretched out and fuzzy, is there any way I can fix this? Registered User 92

Author POV

A good, informative article but the author is a bit breathless in his/her's estimation of one of GP's books:

"His deeply hilarious, yet incredibly historically informative, classic The Bogey Man"

I am not sure what those adverbs are doing there. Are they not better suited to an amazon.com book review? Just my two cents. Not the end of world.Jackbox1971 03:01, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Playing triangle under Bernstein with NYP

The article doesn't mention his playing the triangle with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein. I seem to remember seeing the film years and years ago. I remember he had a look of incredibly nervous concentration, as he was silently but conpicuously counting the beat--mouthing the numbers, in apparent terror of not hitting the triangle when he was supposed to (or perhaps worse, hitting it when he wasn't). Years later I heard that he said it was the most harrowing of his experiences. 140.147.160.78 15:32, 15 September 2006 (UTC)Stephen Kosciesza

How old was he when he donated his library?

Born in 1927, he donated his library in 1936? RPellessier | Talk 08:49, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

==I looked this site up searching for information on why Plimpton is significant. I was disappointed to mostly find trivia. Surely, his cameo on the Simpsons is not the reason.==

Maybe not, but I always loved his take on Ozzy Osbourne's TV popularity..."Look at me; I'm a drug addict! Ho Ho Ho!" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.97.69.26 (talk) 16:42, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Why is he significant?

LOL! Why indeed? Plimpton was the sort of old-money, well-educated, intellectual lightweight who used to get a lot of respect 40 years or so ago. Back then there were a lot of his sort around. They were scions of old money families. They went to Harvard and Yale. They belonged to secret societies. They didn't really have to "work" and spent a lot of their time doing "public service" in positions that the old-boy network arranged for them at places like the CIA and the State Department. The Roosevelt, Kennedy and Bush families figure large in this respect. Plimpton was one who actually tried to do something in literature rather than settling into a life of protected employment at the State Department as so many have. You still see 'em around. Bush 2.1 is a good example of the sort as is his failed rival John Kerry.

The whole notion of old-money background/public service as a life calling hasn't aged well in our present tooth and claw economy. These guys don't get the respect and deference that they used to and too often still demand. :-D

Plaasjaapie 03:32, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Considering that he interviewed Ernest Hemingway (and was given the quote about the shit detector), he appeared in The Book of Heroic Failures for setting off "The Least Successful Firework", and he appeared regularly in A Nero Wolfe Mystery, he does seem interesting enough. 72.27.53.222 (talk) 23:00, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:George Plimpton.jpg

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BetacommandBot (talk) 22:30, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Alexander Plimpton

Alexander Plimpton is incorectly listed as a child of George Plimpton's. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fayettehickox (talk • contribs) 19:11, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Appearance in Reds

The film discussion does not mention "Reds" in which he played a small but commanding role. Very positive presentation of Plimton in it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:6:4C80:4D2:214:51FF:FEED:8FCA (talk) 15:46, 18 May 2014 (UTC)

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Is the Harvard entry date 1948 correct?

It seems like it should be 1944 if he graduated from high school in 1944 and then from Harvard in 1950 with a hiatus for military service from 1945 to 1948 Wikigratia (talk) 18:45, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

I found a reference regarding Plimpton's Harvard date of enrollment. Will update. Wikigratia (talk) 18:47, 17 November 2024 (UTC)