Talk:Spenser (character)

Spenser has a first name ...

Spenser has a first name, according to Stardust as quoted at [1], so it's more accurate to say that he never reveals it. --JerryFriedman 17:36, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

While not definitive, is it possible that Spenser's first name is Samuel? In the first several pages of chapter five of "Looking for Rachel Wallace," Spenser states that having Spenser as a last name forever links him to Edmund Spenser, the author of "The Faerie Queen." He suggests that he would have preferred to be named Samuel Spade (reference to Dashiell Hammett's fictional detective). Since the discussion is about last names being assigned to offspring and not about first names, could it be that his full name is "Samuel" Spenser? Timoneer (talk) 10:43, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Another strong clue that Spenser's first name is Samuel is that in "Chasing the Bear" (2009), Spenser's father's name is Sam Spenser (page 138). Timoneer (talk) 10:19, 23 June 2009‎ (UTC)

Am I the only one appalled?

Am I the only one appalled that "Spenser" points to a fictional character of some detective novels rather than to one of the greatest poets of Western literature?! --Ryan Heuser 02:48, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Spenser could be a redirect to Edmund Spenser with the current content of Spenser moved to something like Spenser (fictional detective) (and a disambiguation link added to Edmund Spenser pointing to the detective's article). The current Spenser article has a disambiguation link pointing to the poet, which strikes me as not significantly different. I'd guess the Spenser detective is currently much more widely known than the poet. In 50 years perhaps the situation will flip. Appalling? No. Permanent state of affairs? Also, probably not. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:20, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

An argument from popularity does not seem intuitive to me. Of course a 20th-century popular novel character is more widely "known" than a 16th-century poet. The issue remains: I don't think it's in the best interest of WP to let popular fictional characters trump canonical writers. And I think the situation you described (Spenser->Edmund Spenser, and a Spenser (fictional detective)) would be very satisfactory. --Ryan Heuser 11:45, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Requested move

Requested move from Spenser to Spenser (fictional detective): Result of the debate was move

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. The result of the debate was move. —Nightstallion (?) Seen this already? 09:22, 8 May 2006 (UTC) Spenser → Spenser (fictional detective) … Rationale: I believe Spenser ought to redirect to the canonical English poet Edmund Spenser, not to a fictional character of a detective novel who happens to have been named "Spenser" with no first name. --Ryan Heuser 20:27, 2 May 2006 (UTC) Survey Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~ Support - Nat Krause(Talk!) 20:35, 2 May 2006 (UTC) Suport └ UkPaolo/talk┐ 21:32, 2 May 2006 (UTC) Support. But the current page should become a DAB and not a redirect. Vegaswikian 23:52, 2 May 2006 (UTC) Support, but disambiguate Spenser. -Sean Curtin 00:40, 3 May 2006 (UTC) Support but add dab header to Edmund Spenser. Septentrionalis 03:39, 3 May 2006 (UTC) Support. I suppose Edmund Spenser is far more notable than the current Spenser. Skinnyweed 16:34, 3 May 2006 (UTC) Discussion Add any additional comments The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

—Nightstallion 09:22, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Completing the move

Sorry for taking so long, but I thought I would give the debate a week to finish up. Here is what I've done:

• changed Spenser to redirect to Edmund Spenser
• added DAB header to Edmund Spenser, regarding this page
• removed DAB header from this page, because it is no longer a redirect-inbound

I did not make a DAB page because there are only two candidates, and one is much more prominent than the other. I know two people requested a DAB page in the debate, but more simply agreed, which I took to be a tacit agreement to my proposal (that Spenser should redirect to Edmund Spenser). If this is unsatisfactory, let's talk about it. --Ryan Heuser 12:53, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Ceremony

I just wrote the Ceremony article if anyone wants to take a look, copyedit. Cheers. — Frecklefσσt | Talk 19:45, 11 June 2009 (UTC)