Talk:John Osborne Varian

Upton Sinclair

The community had elements of socialism and some communal property, which drew the attention of reformers such as novelist Upton Sinclair.

I've removed Upton Sinclair from the article.[1] The source is not exactly clear on his relationship to Halcyon and Varian,[2] and possibly overstates the case. I looked for further information and could only find one obscure citation, Paul Kagan's New World Utopias (1975).[3] Although it is difficult to tell from the snippet view, Kagan says that Sinclair sought to win the Theosophist vote during his run in California's 1934 gubernatorial election. Since Varian had died in 1931, it is a bit tangential to this topic, however, pending the addition of more sources that shed light on the subject, I would have no objection to returning it if it is important enough to include. Viriditas (talk) 08:58, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

I'd say the significance has little to do with Sinclair's political ambitions, more that he had an interest in utopian communities. I see your point vis-a-vis Varian, however. Probably the info would be better placed in the Halcyon, CA article. Montanabw^(talk) 02:21, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

Proposed additions for discussion

• Norm Hammond (1992) reports that the Varians had "deep roots in Ireland". Other sources mention something about John's brother and his father (Isaac?), and something about a factory, IIRC. A 1941 article in the The Saturday Evening Post names John's brother (I think) as "John Osborne" and says he moved from Ireland to Australia, and then to Washington D.C. The article also mentions in passing that Russell and Sigurd picked up their inventiveness from John's brother (but this is just the author speculating), and calls John a "masseur". This reminds me of another source that says Russell and Sigurd respected the religious beliefs of their parents but didn't take them with them, and that they thought of their father as less than practical, but that could be my interpretation.

I'd say that we just have to be careful not to venture too far into WP:OR and WP:SYN territory, stick to what can be sourced. "Deep roots in Ireland" can mean anything and adds nothing without explaining what that means. (Just the family is from there for generations is not worth expanding on, unless they did something interesting there) If your stuff passes muster of WP:RS and WP:V, I'm happy. I know of at least two grandchildren of Varian who are alive today -- both rather powerful personalities, IMHO -- and so I want to be sure we handle this article with respect for the families. (One is Sigurd's son Jack [4] and the other is Sheila, Eric Varian's daughter, which is how I got into this, doing an article on her.) By the way, the V6 ranch blog is a fun one! [5]--MTBW

• One source seems to say he married his wife in the U.S., not Ireland, but this could be ambiguous

I tried to stay close to my sources, which I think I footnoted pretty closely. So what's in there now came from the footnoted source. I got the impression they were both adults and married at the time they emigrated, but absent something like immigration records, I won't go to the mat either way. --MTBW

• According to an article by Ashley Schwellenbach,[6] Varian helped build the Dunite lodge at "Moy Mell". Hammond documents the building of Moy Mell by Chester Alan Arthur Jr. (aka "Gavin Arthur") but doesn't mention Varian, however Schwellenbach is probably relying on similar, but unpublished sources (South County Historical Society).

That sounds cool. I think the source is usable if you don't exceed what they said, which is basically " had a hand in building" ... MTBW

• Verify: Varian's papers are held in two archives: Stanford University and the Temple of the People.

Definitely Stanford has some here: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf3h4nb03j/ I hadn't looked for any links to the Temple of the People --MTBW

• Eleanor Shumway of the Temple of the People may be able to help us with finding more sources. She is fairly active in the community and gives presentations about Varian. These events are usually advertised by the South County Historical Society.

Sounds like you are on the ground with that. Again, we have that darn wikipedia policy of no OR to be careful about. Lectures and personal interviews are problematic as wiki sources. If we can cite to a hardcopy document, we're fine, even if it's on a restricted shelf somewhere, as long as some ordinary person COULD look at it. If there is a video available to the public in some fashion, we can also cite to recorded lectures or programs (note the Sheila Varian article for how I used one of her DVDs as a source, minute by minute...) --MTBW

There's a lot more, but that's enough for the moment. Viriditas (talk) 03:59, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

My thoughts above, minus multiple signatures. Montanabw^(talk) 18:30, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

I'm not talking about any OR or using any lectures. This information is all based on the sources and is offered here for development. The deep roots in Ireland refers to early life material that has not yet been added. Apparently Shumway acts in some capacity as a librarian or archivist, so she has access to the sources. I mentioned the events to show she works with the public and can be contacted for information about hard copy sources, not as a proposed source herself. For the record, I have no connection to her or anyone else in this article. My interest is solely with the history of California and the various subcultures that arose during and after this time period. Viriditas (talk) 21:22, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

OK, I wasn't quite clear on that. Yes, if there are sources that can be obtained with the help of a talented archivist, that sounds good. No problem as to your motives, ;-) glad you want to work on this. It is rather interesting. Montanabw^(talk) 05:09, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Bout

This is not a big deal, but I noticed that "suffering" was replaced with "bout". Varian had been suffering from illness for a while, so the word bout might not be accurate. On the other hand, according to the source, he had been well enough to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with his family. The source says there had been lung complications as well. Viriditas (talk) 22:22, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

Probably what is needed is some expansion or clarification. I haven't reviewed the source, so what was unclear is if the pneumonia actually was the cause of death, or if something else actually did him in. "After suffering" kind of sounds odd to my ear... no problem if there's a better and clearer way to put it. Go for it. Montanabw^(talk) 05:09, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

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