Talk:E. E. Cummings

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capitalization yet again

Where did he use "e. e. cummings" or similar? The "not e. e. cummings" source says he set his name in lowercase in some personal correspondences; did he ever do that, or approve its use, in any other context? (esp. published works) --Nortaneous (talk) 22:45, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

On occasion, Cummings's handwritten signature was in lowercase; I have examples of such in my personal collection. (Yeah, I know that's "original research", but whatever.) He typed his name with capitals, however (I also have examples of that), and did not approve of the all-lowercase byline added by publishers trying to turn his typography into a sales gimmick. CaptHayfever (talk) 07:36, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Does it matter? Our standard is the "common name" not the "personally approved name". See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies)#Names. He is most commonly known as "e. e. cummings", so much so that it verges on a trademark; whether he found this desirable or not is irrelevant.--Doug.^{(talk • contribs)} 11:32, 25 August 2011 (UTC)

I was just responding to a valid question with a true answer. Never said the article had to reflect it. (Though it really is poor form to use the lowercased version in a gorram encyclopedia, especially since it isn't his actual legal OR pen name. We don't retitle the Deadpool page "Ninja Spider-Man" just because it's a "common name.") CaptHayfever (talk) 08:50, 10 November 2011 (UTC)

"The use of lowercase for his initials was popularized in part by the title of some books, particularly in the 1960s, printing his name in lower case on the cover and spine. In the preface to E. E. Cummings: the growth of a writer by Norman Friedman, critic Harry T. Moore notes "He had his name put legally into lower case, and in his later books the titles and his name were always in lower case." According to Cummings's widow, however, this is incorrect. She wrote to Friedman: "you should not have allowed H. Moore to make such a stupid & childish statement about Cummings & his signature." On February 27, 1951, Cummings wrote to his French translator D. Jon Grossman that he preferred the use of upper case for the particular edition they were working on. One Cummings scholar believes that on the rare occasions Cummings signed his name in all lowercase, he may have intended it as a gesture of humility, not as an indication that it was the preferred orthography for others to use." - I think if there's not a strict consensus as to whether or not he preferred lowercase, that is, his own word of better, it's probably best to leave it capitalised especially as formatting will leave the first E in capital regardless --Drowninginlimbo (talk) 22:59, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

it says that he died by killing himself after reading about the meatspin controversy in the section final years and of gonorrhea from his mother. can't figure out how to edit it but someone should delete that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.127.170.166 (talk) 02:28, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Death date calculation

The way the "death date and age" works, if I understand this correctly, is that the field includes both the death date and the birth date and automatically calculates the age at death based on the birth date and death date. In this article, the date of birth as listed in the Birth Date area differs from the date of birth as listed in the Death Date area. In one place the month is October, but in the other place, it's September. Is this a mistake? If so, we should fix this. Thanks Tamarleigh (talk) 14:49, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

It's fixed. Span (talk) 21:41, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

Religion - possible vandalism

contributor 184.147.196.97 added "Taoist" to "Unitarian" on Line 15: Religion on April 21, 2014. Is this true or is this vandalism? I read a bio of Cummings and to the best of my recollection it didn't mention Taoism, nor is it mentioned anywhere in the Wikipedia article. Probably vandalism, but thought I would check with those who know more about him than I before reverting the entry. His political views and more aggressive poetry were certainly not in accord with the Tao. (Epinoia (talk) 15:43, 23 April 2014 (UTC))

• • Still have my doubts about this - "Taoism" was re-added to Religion by contributor 99.249.45.239 with a citation - I understand that Cummings was introduced to eastern thought by Ezra Pound and while Taoism may have influenced Cummings and his writing, there is no evidence that he was a practicing Taoist or that it was a principle part of his spiritual life. I think this citing his religion as Taoism is misleading and it should be removed. (Epinoia (talk) 23:39, 3 May 2014 (UTC))

I agree. One expects to read about a subject's religion in the article if it is mentioned in the infobox. Rothorpe (talk) 23:47, 3 May 2014 (UTC)