[Wikipedia-l] "In memoriam"

[lcrocker at nupedia.com]

> It was suggested to me that they be moved to another domain,
> and if there's consensus for that, I'd gladly host them on that
> domain.  Either something like 911tribute.wikipedia.com or
> www.whatever.com, which I would gladly buy.
> Even so, I'd like to keep as much as we can, if it can be made NPOV.

Since you asked for references to specific pages, I went looking,
and I'm now more ambivalent.  I think what people have a problem
with is pages like "William M. Feehan", which is just effusive
praise and tearful reminiscence.  But then there are also pages
like "Brady Howell", which is a perfectly ordinary biography that
I'd have no problem with at all.

I'm already on record that I support allowing biographies of anyone
at all in Wikipedia, with no regard to whether their accomplishments
or fame would merit their inclusion in a more traditional reference.
As long as we take care with namespace issues, and those biographies
are not mere self-aggrandizement, I have no problem with including
any anyone cares to write--including those about 9/11 victims.
But I also think that some people used these pages not for
"biography" but for "eulogy", and that's not appropriate here.

I have nothing against eulogy--I created
http://www.piclab.com/sasha for a friend of mine, for example--
and I would like to see a biography of him here as well.
But I wouldn't put the memorial comments from my site into
the article.