Gregg Easterbrook

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Request for assistance

This is in response to Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard#Gregg Easterbrook.

Hi! I am Guy Macon, an experienced editor here at Wikipedia, and I will be happy to walk you through our procedures, make changes for you, and help in any other way that I can. Please note that everything we write here can be read by anyone; we like to keep everything open and visible.

First, a few preliminaries: Obviously anyone can create a Wikipedia account and claim to be Gregg Easterbrook, so I have sent an email to the address at http://greggeasterbrook.com/contact.html with the subject line "Message from Wikipedia editor Guy Macon". When I get a response I will add a note here.

We here at Wikipedia try very hard to accommodate the subjects of our biographies. Obviously we can't just blindly make any change requested, or the subjects of our biographies could just whitewash their entries, but we do try to accommodate any reasonable request.

We also have a help page at Wikipedia:Plain and simple conflict of interest guide that is well worth reading.

So, what changes would you like to request? --Guy Macon (talk) 16:50, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

I think he wants us to fix the article so the tag at the top is no longer necessary.Anythingyouwant (talk) 08:18, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

That's well worth doing in any case, I will have some time tomorrow and will see what I can do to improve the article. Also, I confirmed by email that User:Gregg Easterbrook is is the same person as Gregg Easterbrook. --Guy Macon (talk) 08:47, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Sounds good, I'll keep an eye out, check back later, and maybe help.  :)Anythingyouwant (talk) 09:28, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

from Gregg Easterbrook

(Copied from my talk page so we can keep the discussion in one place) --Guy Macon (talk) 14:36, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Hi Guy,

Nice to hear from you. I simply wrote a brief entry about myself, with secondary sources. It follows the example of this entry http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Nicholas_Lemann -- Nick's career and mine are similar.

Last month I asked tech-savvy friend of my daughter's if he could propose a revised entry -- I knew I'd bungle it if I tried myself -- but he said it was tagged as vandalism. I would be happy to send the same entry to you, and have you do with it whatever is appropriate under the Wikipedia rules structure.

To me much of what's in the current entry seems verbose, but I recognize that under the Wikipedia format, only users can make that call. Best Gregg — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.255.152.126 (talk) 20:03, 19 March 2014 (UTC)

Would that by any chance be [1] this edit? If that isn't it, you can post your preferred version here.

Also, please sign in before posting and use four tildes ( ~~~~ ) to sign your posts. Thanks! --Guy Macon (talk) 14:36, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Hi Guy,

Below is the entry I wrote about myself -- I think its virtue is brevity. The existing entry seems overmuch, while anything that's needed regarding my Tuesday Morning Quarterback column could move to the entry for that.

Please use all, some or none of the below as you see fit:

---

Gregg Easterbrook is an American author and contributing editor of The Atlantic http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/The_Atlantic_Monthly.

Career Easterbrook was born in Buffalo, New York in 1953. He holds degrees from Colorado College http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Colorado_college and Northwestern University http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Northwestern_University. In 1979, he became an editor of The Washington Monthly http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/The_Washington_Monthly. In 1981, he joined The Atlantic as a staff writer, later becoming national correspondent; since 1988, he has been a contributing editor . He writes the eclectic Tuesday Morning Quarterback http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Tuesday_Morning_Quarterback column for ESPN. He has been a political columnist for Reuters http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Reuters, a senior editor and then contributing editor to The New Republic http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/The_new_republic and a fellow in economic studies and then in governance studies at the Brookings Institution http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Brookings_Institution.

Easterbrook is the author of nine books: five nonfiction, three literary novels and one of humor. His nonfiction books A Moment on the Earth, on environmentalism, and The Progress Paradox, on social science research, were New York Times “notable books” of the year. His novel The Here and Now was called “moving” by the New York Times Book Review http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/New_York_Times_Book_Review and “engaging” by the Los Angeles Times http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times. His books have been featured on All Things Considered , The Charlie Rose Show , The Colbert Report and other television and radio programs.

In addition to books and articles in The Atlantic, Easterbrook frequently writes for the op-ed pages of the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and has written for the technical journal Science http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Science_(journal), Harvard Business Review http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Harvard_Business_Review, the New Yorker http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/New_Yorker_Magazine, Wired http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wired_magazine and Slate http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Slate_magazine. He has contributed chapters to books including the Council of Foreign Relations report on 9-11 , and has lectured at the Aspen Institute and Chautauqua Institution and spoken at many colleges.

Personal Easterbrook is the younger brother of Judge Frank Easterbrook http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Frank_Easterbrook of the federal 7th Circuit appeals court and older brother of Neil Easterbrook, a professor at Texas Christian University http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Texas_Christian_University. He is married to Nan Kennelly, an American diplomat. They have three children: boys born in 1989 and 1995 and a girl born in 1990.

Books The King of Sports: Football’s Impact on America. St. Martin’s, 2013. ISBN 125001171X.

The Leading Indicators. St. Martin’s, 2012. ISBN 1250011736.

Sonic Boom. Random House, 2009. ISBN 0812974131

The Progress Paradox. Random House, 2003. ISBN 0812973038

The Here and Now. St. Martin’s, 2002. 0312286473

Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Universe 2001. 0789306514

Beside Still Waters. William Morrow. 1998. ISBN 0688160654

A Moment on the Earth. Viking, 1995. ISBN 0140154515

This Magic Moment. St. Martin’s, 1986. ISBN 0312800541

Awards Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, 1980 and 1982 . Livingston Award, 1985 . Honorary doctorate, Colorado College, 1992 . Fiftieth Anniversary Distinguished Fellow, Fulbright Foundation, 1996 .

References: Alex Kuczynski. “Changing of the Guard at the Washington Monthly.” New York Times. October 16, 2000. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/16/business/media-talk-changing-of-guard-at-washington-monthly.html

Paul Galloway, “In Search of Common Ground.” Chicago Tribune, December 25, 1998. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-12-25/features/9812250243_1_science-and-religion-belief-gregg-easterbrook

Carolyn See. “A Love Story to Fall in Love With.” Los Angeles Times, February 2 1987. http://articles.latimes.com/1987-02-02/news/vw-64_1_a-love-story

Adrian Woolridge. “The Best is Yet to Come.” Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2009. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704905704574623221322234850

External links:

"Q&A With Brian Lamb." CSPAN, October 10, 2013. http://www.c-span.org/video/?315551-1/qa-gregg-easterbrook

The Atlantic articles index http://www.theatlantic.com/gregg-easterbrook

The Diane Rehm Show: interviews about The King of Sports December 9, 2013 http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-12-09/gregg-easterbrook-king-sports and about Sonic Boom, January 13, 2010 http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-01-13/gregg-easterbrook-sonic-boom

"Gazing Back Through the Crystal Ball." Space Review. by Dwayne Day, June 27, 2100. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1872/1

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Gregg Easterbrook Gregg Easterbrook (talk) 15:22, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Gregg, to do a really thorough job, we need to know whether you agree with your brother about Space: 1999 as described in Hudson v. McMillian.  :)Anythingyouwant (talk) 17:57, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I can tell you that Frank was married in 2013, and at the reception the theme to Space 1999 was played. Got a nice laugh.

Gregg Easterbrook Gregg Easterbrook (talk) 20:53, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, that's funny. Guy and I will fix you up.Anythingyouwant (talk) 22:21, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Suggested Changes

OK, looking at the suggested changes above, I think that first we should talk about the overall question, "why smaller?" How does cutting the page down benefit the readers of the encyclopedia? Then I would like to explore specific changes starting with "why remove the Space program section?" How does removing that section benefit the readers of the encyclopedia? --Guy Macon (talk) 00:22, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

One reason for reducing size is that much of the article lacks citations for verification, and/or because much of the article relies on references to primary sources. How about if I start pruning that stuff?Anythingyouwant (talk) 10:34, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

I think Wikipedia editors are better judges of this than I am. My feeling when I've looked at that page has always been that it should be more succinct and straightforward, with more emphasis on books -- which are works of lasting value -- than on peripheral matters. Also, that material pertaining to the Tuesday Morning Quarterback column belongs in the entry on that topic.

Perhaps pruning would be ideal. For instance, while I'd like to think my views on the space program are of value to readers, I am a poor judge of that, which is why the entry version I wrote about myself is purely factual.

Gregg Easterbrook Gregg Easterbrook (talk) 14:58, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

I got started today. If Guy thinks I'm on the right track, then I'll continue, though it may take awhile, due to the learning curve and lack of free time. (P.S. I visited the Goodell kids in DC in the early 1970s.) Cheers.Anythingyouwant (talk) 18:31, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

I think you are doing a fine job. For you folks following along at home, here are the changes so far. --Guy Macon (talk) 19:50, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, it's coming along slowly.Anythingyouwant (talk) 08:00, 23 March 2014 (UTC)

Did a bunch, still a ways to go.Anythingyouwant (talk) 20:15, 23 March 2014 (UTC)

Okay, I'm all done for now. Gregg, feel free to point out any mistakes or omissions, please. Something to keep in mind is that we really are not supposed to delete material that is reliably sourced, but we do need to make sure that nothing is given undue weight. Cheers.Anythingyouwant (talk) 04:04, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

I am taking a pass though it now, and I am not finding anything that I think needs changing. Here are some things that might need improvement:

Re: "Until 2006, Easterbrook had been skeptical about whether global warming was...", do we need the quote? I know that climate change is a hot topic right now and is important to a lot of people, but is it a major aspect of Easterbrook's work or a minor one? If the latter, the quote may give it too much weight.

Re: "He says that greenhouse gas emissions must be curbed. Easterbrook anticipates that climate change could benefit some regions, even while causing drastic problems elsewhere" seems disjointed, as if the two sentences are about different things.

Re: "Following the Kill Bill controversy, Disney, the parent of ESPN, fired Easterbrook in October 2003", how do we know that those two were related? --Guy Macon (talk) 05:24, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the comments. I'll check to see if the global warming blockquote is widely quoted; if so, I'll insert more footnotes, but if not then maybe get rid of the blockquote. Will also try to smooth out the disjointedness, and see why he was fired.Anythingyouwant (talk) 05:29, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Okay, I've tried to address those three points, as can be seen from the new article edits. Incidentally, when I first looked up Gregg Easterbrook on Google Books, the greatest number of hits pertained to the environmental area, and it seems like this change of position on climate change is the most significant thing in that area. Feel free to edit the article as you think best, I'm pretty much done (at least for now).Anythingyouwant (talk) 06:29, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for such fine and thoughtful work. My only small quibble is to note that I am a former Brookings fellow. My two-year fellowship lasted 9 years, but did conclude in 2011.

Really appreciate both of you taking the time to improve this entry. Obviously it matters to me, but also does matter to readers.

With thanks, Gregg Easterbrook Gregg Easterbrook (talk) 21:32, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Sure, no problem. No guarantees that it won't devolve, but I'll try to keep an eye on it. Once you get a bit more experience writing, maybe we'll let you start editing here.  :) When I was at Bowdoin, my parents got very annoyed by how much I liked the food there, without much to say about the academics (which were fine too). Cheers.Anythingyouwant (talk) 21:44, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

minor request regarding Gregg Easterbrook page

Hi Guy, Hope all is well. Recently was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. (http://www.amacad.org/content/members/newFellows.aspx?s=a) If you could add this to my Wikipedia page, in whatever manner seems appropriate to you, I would be grateful. Also another book to add: The Game’s Not Over -- PublicAffairs Books, 2015. Many thanks -- Gregg Easterbrook Gregg Easterbrook (talk) 02:54, 25 April 2017 (UTC)