Talk:James Francis Dwyer

Potential sources

On page 1 of Dwyer's autobiography, he mentions five publications that mention him:

• "Who's Who in America" (date not specified), though Google books has a snippet preview for at least one edition: [1]. In page 222 of the autobiography, Dwyer mentions he was the only resident of Pau to be listed in the book, and used this information to convince the mayor of the town to allow him to buy land there. This was prior to WWII.
• "Who's Who in Australia" (1947 edition)
• "Australian Literature", by E. Morris Miller, is said to contain a two-page account of his life.

• Update: Found it and added to article.

• "Australia" by Frank Fox (author) is said to praise him. Fox published a book called "Peeps at many lands: Australia", though an e-copy of this book doesn't mention Dwyer so it must be a different title. It's probably this 1911 book: [2]
• His name is said to appear in Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition as one of a dozen leading Australian writers.

• Update: I've since found this mention via these websites under the entry for "Australian Literature": [3][4] though I'm having trouble finding what volume and page number it originally appeared on. Searching online versions of the encyclopedia don't show it appearing anywhere near the entry for "Australia".

I don't think it's appropriate to cite these mentions to his autobiography directly, just listing these here as potential sources to find to flesh this article out. Freikorp (talk) 08:14, 23 May 2018 (UTC)

Autobiography

Here's some info from his autobiography that might come in handy later. I don't own the book; my local library has a copy in the stacks which cannot be borrowed but can be read on premises. Freikorp (talk) 09:31, 3 June 2018 (UTC)

• Dwyer was far too old to fight when WWII broke out. He instead volunteered his services to England as a propagandist though they said they already had plenty, so ended up doing it freelance. He wrote many scathing newspaper articles criticizing the Nazis. (p. 3)
• Dwyer gave talks to Rotarians, Civitas, Kiwanis and Lions arguing for the US to join WWII (p 17)
• He wrote an anti-nazi story for "Liberty" magazine (p 18)
• A. Merritt tried to convince Dwyer to write an autobiography for 3 years, until he died suddenly (p 19). His death guilted Dwyer towards writing one (p 20).
• Dwyer's neighbours in Pau kept their house and belonging safe until they returned after WWII (P 22-23)
• A letter from A. Merritt reached Dwyer in Pau 3 years late (had been redirected many times) and after he had already died. It suggested the name "Leg Irons on Wings" as the titled of his then unwritten autobiography; the title was taken from a line in an old Persian story. This finally convinvced Dwyer to write the book (p 25-26)
• Dwyer was motivated to write his short story "The Lost Button" after seeing the solitary confinement cells. He rubbed out what he wrote on his writing slate everyday so the guards wouldn't draw incorrect conclusions from his writing. He would rewrite things everyday. (p 68)
• Dwyer's job buying pigeons for pigeon shooting is explained on pages 102-104. It's a rather humorous story, involving the purchase of pigeons that had been trained to fly in a manner that would make them difficult to shoot. The club blamed Dwyer for rigging the sport, even though he only picked the pigeons up and had nothing to do with their training. Eventually a man attacked him in an alleyway saying "I'll give you trained pigeons" and "I'll strangle you"; Dwyer described it as an assassination attempt. On page 106 he confirms he worked in the job for 5 months.
• Contrary to what short biographies on him say, on page 110 Dwyer confirms that he didn't use any pen names when writing until AFTER he was released from prison.
• Dwyer sold a story called 'Two Stowaways" to "Wide World Magazine" (p 124)
• Dwyer's wife thought he was crazy to travel to London, though still went with him (p 125)
• While he had little success in London, he did sell "here and there" to 'Black & White', 'TP's Weekly', 'Yes No Magazine', 'Daily Mail' and 'John Bull' (p 125)
• "The Citizen" was first sent to Colliers' and would go on to be reprinted in over 30 publications (p 136)
• Dwyer arrived in the US in February and got offered a job working for Black Cat that November (page 163), he worked for Black Cat for 5 months and sold 56 stories to them (p 164). Prior to Black Cat he sold stories to "World" (p 161) and "Railraod Men's Magazine" (p 162).
• Dwyer returned from his 1913 trip to Australia in the early months of 1914 (p 166). On page 119 he says he thought he might stay permanently.
• At one point in 1908 he was writing one or two short stories a day and one month eight separate magazines published his stories (p 166).
• Dwyer wrote his first novel [The White Waterfall] in three weeks. Doubleday accepted it immediately (p 172-173). It was originally titled "The Vermillion Pit" but they suggested the alternate title (p 174).
• Dwyer made the front page of New York World with the headline "From Car Conductor to Popular Novelist" and "From ten dollars a week to ten thousand a year". This was after The White Waterfall was published, and before October 18, 1912 (p 175).
• After the success of The White Waterfall Dwyer realised he needed an agent (p 176)
• Theodore Roosevelt wrote Dwyer a letter commending a short story he wrote about a German immigrant, c. 1914 (p 186)
• Dwyer offered himself for active service during WWI in Liverpool but was refused due to being 41 years old, which was considered too old (p 187)
• Dwyer was once arrested for jaywalking in the US [book says where but I've forgotten to record that]. He presented the letter from Roosevelt which secured him immediate bail (p 192)
• Dwyer's Australian wife sued for divorce (p 197)
• After he married Welch, she sold her business to her manager and joined Dwyer in travelling (p 197)
• Many of Dwyers friends asked for travel info on Europe. Dwyer realised there was a business to be made out of it, and took out an add offering to send people one letter a week from his travels. He got 146 subscribers from the US. (P 198-199)
• Said business started in 1921 (p 201) and went for 3 years (p 200)

Ramsland

• On 1 April 1913, The Lone Hand (magazine) published an photographic portrait of Dwyer with the caption 'An Austrlian Writer who has met with success in the United States', page xxiv. (page 124 of Ramsland)
• Pages 132 to 134 detail the creation of his story "The Lost Button", which was first published in The Bulletin in 1902. It was later published in Black Cat in the USA, The Story-Teller in London, Choc in Paris and Poppy Annual for British soldiers in WW1. A pirated copy translated into German in Berlin was released without acknowledging Dwyer. It is likely that further pirated copies appeared elsewhere.

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:James Francis Dwyer/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Argento Surfer (talk · contribs) 16:53, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

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All of my suggestions are open to discussion. Once complete, I will claim this review for points in the 2018 wikicup. Argento Surfer (talk) 16:53, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

1. Is it well written?

   A. The prose is clear and concise, and the spelling and grammar are correct:

   These are my copy edits. If you disagree with any of them, we can discuss.

   Looks great; much appreciated.

   "The sentence was considered to be extremely" - whose opinion is this? It should be attributed inline or rewritten as "The sentence was extremely"

   Two sources have considered it to be extreme. I've just rewritten it as you suggested though.

   "He relocated to New York the following year," - is this New York City, specifically?

   Yep that's right. I've clarified this now.

   The lead doesn't seem to include anything from the Legacy section. I think the fact about him writing 1000+ short stories AND/OR him being the first millionaire Australian writer are worthy inclusions.

   Done.

   B. It complies with the manual of style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation:

   no concern

2. Is it verifiable with no original research?

   A. It contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline:

   no concern

   B. All in-line citations are from reliable sources, including those for direct quotations, statistics, published opinion, counter-intuitive or controversial statements that are challenged or likely to be challenged, and contentious material relating to living persons—science-based articles should follow the scientific citation guidelines:

   no concern

   C. It contains no original research:

   The birthdate isn't cited.

   I've placed a citation in the infobox.

   D. It contains no copyright violations nor plagiarism:

   no concern

3. Is it broad in its coverage?

   A. It addresses the main aspects of the topic:

   no concern

   B. It stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style):

   no concern

4. Is it neutral?

   It represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each:

   no concern

5. Is it stable?

   It does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute:

   no concern

6. Is it illustrated, if possible, by images?

   A. Images are tagged with their copyright status, and valid fair use rationales are provided for non-free content:

   no concern

   B. Images are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions:

   I added alt text for the Argosy cover.

7. Overall:

   Pass or Fail:

   This is in good shape. There are a few minor points that need to be addressed, but otherwise this one's ready to pass. FYI, I will be offline until Monday, June 18. Argento Surfer (talk) 18:17, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

   Thanks so much for your review Argento Surfer. I think I've addressed all your concerns. let me know if you have any more. :) Freikorp (talk) 09:10, 17 June 2018 (UTC)

   Everything looks good. Happy to pass this one. Argento Surfer (talk) 12:41, 18 June 2018 (UTC)