Talk:J.H. Crawford

The issues with this page have largely been fixed. Sources are now included. --Carfreecrawford (talk) 23:25, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

You may want to read Wikipedia:Conflict of interest - writing your own biography, especially to promote your own books is not permited. As it says there "If you are notable, someone else will notice you and write the article." - Ahunt (talk) 23:30, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

I wrote the first and so far only books on this subject. (Check Amazon.com)

I am a member of the Advisory Board of World Carfree Network, so far the only global organization dedicated to the promotion of Carfree Cities.

I have been interviewed in print and on radio many times:

appearances of J.H. Crawford

You will note that the foreword of my most recent book was written by no less than the European Union's Environment Minister (2008, 2nd half), Stavros Dimas.

I am not attempting to sell anything. I don't even make any money from any of these activities.

The Next New World: a Profile of J. H. Crawford is not even included, as its author makes a claim I cannot reasonably put forward: "J. H. Crawford may be the most important person you've never heard of."

My work is noted and notable.--Carfreecrawford (talk) 23:38, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Leave this up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Carfreecrawford (talk • contribs) 23:37, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

It isn't really relevant if you think you are notable. You are in a Conflict of Interest and cannot write your own biography. You should also cease editing the article as explained in the guidelines. An admin will review this CSD tag in the near future and make a decision on retaining the article or not. - Ahunt (talk)

I am NOT in a conflict of interest insofar as the promotion of my books is concerned, which appears to be the prime concern you have. As I said, I do not have a financial interest in these books. The sources cited support what is written here.

I have stopped editing the page, which I had been trying to improve.--Carfreecrawford (talk) 23:46, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

See also the 1 March 2001 column Imagine a Future with Car-Free Cities by Neal Peirce, a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post.--Carfreecrawford (talk) 00:29, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Nota Bene: Crawford is, indeed, at least as notable as he says he is. In point of fact, he is the founder and chief theorist of the increasingly-influential worldwide carfree cities movement and, by far, its best-known and most-respected member. That this is so will be immediately confirmed by the most casual research.

Further, it is widely known that Crawford has no financial interest in the book(s). Anyone who is concerned may rest assured that the work represents a very significant expenditure by Crawford, not a profit opportunity.

This page needs to stay up. If there are concerns about Crawford's editing, any number of others, familiar with his work and contributions, will no doubt be here, soon, to provide "unconflicted" input. Streets4kids (talk) 03:44, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

FWIW, I don't think an implication was ever made that there was a commercial interest here. This essay on "agenda" accounts may cast some light, as would the article referenced therein, WP:NPOV. 74.69.39.11 (talk) 17:53, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Comment

The book referenced in the article has been cited 39 times. Decent basic search, but a lot of NN sources in early pages. While notability can possibly be shown, editor is clearly violating the intent of WP:AUTO. - 74.69.39.11 (talk) 01:25, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Speedy deletion

I've removed the speedy tag on this as it's not spam, and shouldn't be speedied over notability either: this should be taken to AFD and argued out there. At this point I'm on the fence about notability, but the article definitely needs a lot of work on refs etc. MuffledThud (talk) 10:14, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Okay, fair enough. I am not going to take it to AfD. It looks like the person who started the article and who is the subject of the article has agreed to stick to Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest#How_to_avoid_COI_edits in which he will post information, refs and suggestions for the article here on the talkpage for other editors to decide whether to include or not. Otherwise it is up to interested editors to carefully fix this up and footnote it from reliable refs so it complies with WP:BLP, before it gets nominated for WP:AFD. - Ahunt (talk) 13:06, 20 March 2009 (UTC)