Talk:Erle Stanley Gardner

No photo?

Why aren't there photos of Erle Stanley Gardner in this article? That would make sense to me.--Will 04:16, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Probably because they are copyrighted. Photos in this encyclopedia should be in the public domain, it means they must be really old, or having been handed out as promotional material, or made by whom uploads them. That is not easy, if the subject of the article died less than 40 years ago.... Kraxler 22:08, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Lester Leith/Peter Wimsey?

Does anyone have a citation for this comparison? It doesn't seem reasonable to me. Yes, they both have butlers, but that seems to be the only overlap. Wimsey works with his butler and Leith works against his (because he's a police spy). Wimsey is an altruistic crime-fighter and Leith is out to enrich himself. Is there a reference that suggests that Gardner deliberately conceived Leith as a Wimsey parody? Accounting4Taste 14:15, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

The comparison doesn't seem reasonable to me, either. I think there's more likely to be a connection with the 'gentleman thief' Raffles. In fact...I think that might even not be original research.... Marieblasdell 23:31, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Negligent nymph.JPG

Image:Negligent nymph.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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Fair use rationale for Image:Negligent nymph.JPG

Image:Negligent nymph.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 19:39, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Museum section

The museum section contains no information about the museum except for the address and number. It should at least have the history, and when it opened. If this cannot be fixed it is considered a violation of WP guidelines, as per WP:SPAM as an advertisement. —Coastergeekperson04^{'s talk}@01/18/2008 02:41

pen name

I remember reading somewhere that "Erle Stanley Gardner" was itself a pen name. Is this correct? WilliamSommerwerck (talk) 13:48, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Best selling?

I've heard it said, I believe as an answer to a quiz question, that Erle Stanley Gardner was the best-selling American author of the twentieth century. Does anyone know whether this is the case, and can they point to sources so that it could, if true, be included in the article? Of course I realise there may b some question over the definition, but would imagine that for it to be completely true, he'd have had to have sold enough books worldwide to have grossed a higher dollar amount, adjusted for inflation, than any other author. I've a brief look online, but couldn't find any references. I'll try and remember to have a more thorough look when I have time, but if anyone else could do the job and confirm either way before I get to it, I'd be most grateful.Lordrosemount (talk) 00:33, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Reference #2, overleaf, Gardner's obituary, is cited as saying ""Erle Stanley Gardner, Author of Perry Mason Stories, Dies". Los Angeles Times. March 12, 1970. "Erle Stanley Gardner, whose Perry Mason mysteries made him the world's best selling author, died Wednesday at his ranch home at Temecula in Riverside County." My recollection is that this specifically referred to the number of books that had been sold, not the amount of money earned; 1960s paperback editions indicated on their covers that over 100 million Perry Mason novels were in print. Accounting4Taste:talk 17:46, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Gardner tropes

Especially in the Perry Mason books, Garner tends to use the same minor plot devices over and over again. The most overused one is that of the murderer who fakes himself an alibi by finding an auto accident that occurred around the time of the murder, and then comes forward to the lawyer for either side as a witness. Then he pretends not to have any alibi, but lets the police "discover" his alibi by themselves. This is in at least a dozen novels if you count the "DA" and the "Cool & Lam" series of books as well.

The problem is, the device is not minor enough. For example, Gardner also makes great play with the idea of the "holographic" will, a will entirely in the testator's handwriting, which requires no witnesses and is, or was, legal in California. This doesn't grate because nothing much depends on it; whereas an alibi is a key element in mystery stories and it seems like laziness to repeat the same gimmick over and over.

Of course it was not for nothing that Gardner habitually referred to himself and his collaborators as "The fiction factory". In the afterword to his Terry Clane novel "Murder Up My Sleeve", Gardner goes so far as to say "I am not a writer. I wish I were".

Any further suggestions about repeatedly used Gardner themes?