Talk:A. A. Milne
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[edit] Biography assessment rating comment
WikiProject Biography Assessment
Nearly a B; more references, and maybe citations, needed
The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. -- Yamara 14:41, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Religious belief?
Shouldn't Milne's atheism be included in the article?
"The Old Testament is responsible for more atheism, agnosticism, disbelief—call it what you will—than any book ever written; it has emptied more churches than all the counterattractions of cinema, motor bicycle and golf course." - A. A. Milne, Recalled on his death: January 31, 1956
[edit] Discussion
Some online sources list his birth as Scotland, but most say Hampstead, London. Does anyone know for certain? --rmhermen
[edit] English Author
Is the phrase "English author" intended to indicate the language he used, or his country of origin? If the latter, then this is inconsistent with the statement that he was born in Scotland. Bovlb 18:19, 2004 Mar 4 (UTC)
- "English" in the sense of a writer who lived in England and whose works are redolant of England. Milne was born in Scotland but was raised in London, spending all his formative years there; more importantly, his books reek of the place. He shouldn't be called "Scottish" - my wife was born in Rangoon because her American parents were stationed there, but you wouldn't call her Burmese.
Robert Burns is a Scottish writer not because of where he was born but because of his life and the tone of his works; similarly, Milne is an English writer.
- We could say "British" if this is a problem for anybody, but I think that's a little silly. - DavidWBrooks 19:28, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)
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- There is often a great deal of conflation that goes on when describing the relationship between a person and a geopolitical area. For example, I claim that your wife could validly be described as Burmese, especially if she has or had any entitlement to citizenship there, but could also be described as American in culture, citizenship, upbringing or loyalty. Scotland and England, although different countries, have not maintained different citizenship recently; remaining objective tests include self-identification, primary place of residence, and place of birth. Of those, only place of birth is immutable. Bloodline is also an issue, but it tends to compound the same ambiguities; it is my personal observation that geopolitical identification by descent is more prevalent in America than in Europe (YMMV), except in the case of certain communities (e.g. Romany) that hold themselves apart.
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- For comparison, George Orwell is described as British, although he was born in Bengal, was brought up in England, and did much of his writing on Jura. In his case, it could be seen as a reference to citizenship.
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- I think most people would agree that Milne's writing is redolent/reeks of England (but not, for much of it, of London). If that's what is meant, perhaps we should simply say so explicitly, as this notable fact is not otherwise drawn out in this page. Bovlb 20:33, 2004 Mar 4 (UTC)
Anybody got a reference for Milne being a cartoonist? I can find nothing about it. None of the web biographies mention it, and I suspect that there is some confusion out there. DJ Clayworth 21:27, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)
- It's either a joke/vandal or a grotesque error (I suspect the former). I have removed it. - DavidWBrooks 13:28, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)
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[edit] Brief Mention of Family Members
It may be absolutely irrelevant, but I once went to a school in South East England that was founded by A. A. Milne's father, J. V. Milne. It no longer exists, having gone bankrupt one hundred years after it was founded.
Perhaps a tiny brief mention of his father as a schoolmaster would be appropriate for this article?
Wolf_ODonnell 11:56 (UTC), 5 Oct 2005
- Absolutely - can you add it? - DavidWBrooks 12:58, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
Certainly, but the information I have contradicts the one in the article, stating that the school was founded in 1894 at Streete Court, Westgate in January 1894. This leads me to suspect, that A. A Milne was raised at the old school at Hampstead, which did not take the name of Streete Court.
Wolf_ODonnell 23:52 (UTC), 7 Oct 2005
The first school headed by J.V. Milne was Henley House, the second was Streete Court opened about 1894, A.A. was b. Kilburn.
[edit] The Milne-Wodehouse tangle
I think it would be appropriate to mention Milne's tussle with P.G.Wodehouse, particularly considering that there is a brief mention of his stance on the World Wars. Vatsa 19:42, 14 October 2005 (UTC)
- Good idea. I put in a paragraph, which may be more than it merits. - DavidWBrooks 20:53, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Pronunciation of Milne
Could someone help this American children's lit prof (just a sub for the summer, thus the confusion) with the appropriate pronunciation of Milne?
- Sorry if this comes too late to help... "Milne" is pronounced as "kiln" in that both the "l" and the "n" are sounded as voiced consonants but there is no following vowel or schwa (cf. "Milner"). Because of the difficulty of sounding adjacent liquid and nasal consonants ("l" and "n") the "l" is frequently vocalised (in other words, the tongue does not come to the teeth, as it normally would for an "l", but is moved directly to behind the teeth, as for an "n") giving an effect somewhat similar to "Mioune", although not normally so extreme. Mooncow 19:33, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Milne's marriage(s)
The articles says that Milne married "Dorothy de Selincourt", and then later mentions that the rights to Pooh were sold by "his widow, Daphne". Did he remarry, in which case I think the biography should mention this, or is one of the names just a mistake? Mooncow 19:36, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
I've read that Daphne was her nickname Clank.r 01:11, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Winnie the Pooh
Hello all,
I was reading here about AA Milne and Winnie the Pooh. There was some editing to be done about Winnie's exact origin but I don't want to screw something up in the process. It is quite interesting and I have a little wee connection here. Winnie the Pooh is named after Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. My Father served in the Canadian Armed Forces, his Regiment was The Fort Gary Horse, in Winnipeg. The real story in that a militay veterinarian, Lt. Harry Colebourn before WWI was travelling across northern Ontario and bought a bear cub from a hunter who has just shot it's mother. The Lt. was an Officer in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, later renamed The Fort Garry Horse. It was the Regiment Mascot. Somewhere in there is the connection to Mr. Milne serving in the war and this black bear cub, who later went to a Zoo in England. I will send some reading and if anyone would like to put this in there, it would be greatly appreciated. My Dad who is now deceased would thank you aswell. He served the Garry's with pride and a mention in there about them would be great. The story is adorable and is all Canadian. Thank you.
Bert Johnson Jr..... bertgjohnson@gmail.com
http://www.fortgarryhorse.ca/phpweb/ (main site)
http://www.fortgarryhorse.ca/phpweb/index.php?module=photoalbum&PHPWS_Album_op=view&PHPWS_Album_id=5 (pictures of Winnie) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Enigma2112 (talk • contribs)
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- Part of this story (but in less detail) already appears at Winnie the Pooh, so I'm going to copy it to the talk page there. I don't doubt that editors there will want to incorporate some of the material. Thanks, Bert. --Old Moonraker 22:11, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] One last note
I forgot to add the Wiki on Fort Garry Horse so here it is...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fort_Garry_Horse
[edit] Ownership/Licensing of Winnie The Pooh
At the bottom of the Literary Career section it says that the rights to the Pooh characters were sold to the Walt Disney Company by Milne's widow after his death, but on some other pages I find references to the rights being sold or licensed to Stephen Slesinger around 1930 and then his widow Shirley licensing the rights to Disney in 1961 (see: Christopher Robin, Stephen Slesinger, Shirley Slesinger Lasswell). On the Winnie-the-Pooh page it seems to indicate that Daphne Milne licensed rights for Pooh to Disney at around the same time Shirley Slesinger Lasswell was licensing Disney her rights. I don't really understand the difference between selling and licensing the rights, if there is one, but there seems to be some confusion between what all of these pages are saying. Can anyone clarify this at all? It seems to be something that should be fixed, or at least expanded upon, on the A. A. Milne page and possibly the other pages as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Seilgrank (talk • contribs) 14:01, 20 February 2008 (UTC)
