Talk:Gavin Maxwell

Which otter?

The film of Ring of Bright Water has Maxwell buying a European Otter in London; his nephew's biography refers to him being given a Marsh Otter in Iraq. Which happens in the book? Andy Mabbett 12:04, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

Article is correct: his first otter came from Iraq. He adopted one while he was out there, but it died while he was still there. He was then given one shortly before he left Iraq, and it is this one (named Midj?) which he brought back to London and then Scotland.

The otter that died in Iraq was Chahala, the otter that returned to London was Mij (short for Mijbil). The pet-shop otter depicted in the movie (and portrayed by a trained otter, also called Mij) has no direct counterpart in any of the books, although it is clearly inspired by the original Mij. Poglad 19:00, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

Relationships

His marriages and homosexuality should probably be mentioned. Botting goes into the marriages, but is by virtue of being an "authorised" biographer quiet on the homosexual relationships. Not sure if there's a source on those.

Could you cite any sources on this? Anyone?

Obvious source would be Frere, Richard (1976) Maxwell's Ghost; London: Victor Gollancz Ltd.

[Maxwell:] "I am a homosexual. Does that worry you?"

[Frere:] "This I think I knew -- it is, after all, common gossip."

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Poglad (talk • contribs)

I've now added this citation. Poglad 17:06, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

There are a lot of stories in Scotland about his supposed homosexuality. I think it is unfair to name names, as these are all gossip, and not necessarily true. Myself, I think he was probably bisexual. --MacRusgail (talk) 17:55, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Sicily

Maxwell spent a considerable time in Sicily and wrote a couple of books about the island. Should be mentioned.

I thought that too. Apparently he lived at a tonnara (tuna fishery) close to Scopello some time in the '50s, and based Ten Pains of Death on his experience there. Don't know any more than that, but the external link to the biography by his nephew sheds light. I've tried to track the book down without success. Dw290 10:02, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

This suggestion is correct. In Ten Pains of Death Maxwell describes his life at the Tonnara di Scopello on the Sicilian coast. Chiswick Chap (talk) 19:22, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

Dates

The article gives various dates as years, despite the actual date being readily available. Lack of details, and lack of citations, can all be addressed to improve the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Poglad (talk • contribs)

Simpler Lifestyle

I had to smile at the article's mention of Maxwell pursuing "a simpler lifestyle"... it's hard to imagine a more complex lifestyle than the one he had, notwithstanding the way he presented himself in Ring of Bright Water. More a case of chaotic genius and drama, some would say LOL. Poglad (talk) 08:57, 12 September 2011 (UTC)

Multiple reissues

What is the point of listing multiple 'reissues' of his books, with lovingly recorded ISBNs that change each week? New critical editions, illustrated editions, translations ... might be of some interest (as would different versions edited by the author, if there were any), but successive paperback reprints do seem somewhat irrelevant: Wikipedia is not a catalogue. Maybe we could slim the bibliog. down a bit. Chiswick Chap (talk) 19:16, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

New source

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/gavin-maxwells-bitter-legacy-was-the-otter-man-the-wildlife-champion-he-appeared-to-be-9595629.html

-- Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 22:00, 16 July 2014 (UTC)