Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Johnny English (civil servant)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was withdrawn. --BDD (talk) 21:13, 19 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Johnny English (civil servant)[edit]

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I don't think this person meets WP:ANYBIO. His coworkers apparently spoke well of him, but I've only been able to find "trivial coverage", such as news reports which quote him as a Teamsters spokesman. I haven't found a single source that's actually about him. "johnny english" teamsters -wikipedia doesn't yield too many results, and many are still irrelevant, either as Wikipedia mirrors or about the Rowan Atkinson films. BDD (talk) 14:31, 19 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. BDD (talk) 14:32, 19 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. He was a reasonably influential and respected figure in the Teamsters. He died in 1969 and it's hard to find online newspaper sources about him, but I did turn up 2 versions of his AP obituary [1][2] and a substantial number of mentions in books. He was noted in the Teamsters for being personally honest, and for having been a fierce opponent of Dave Beck [3], and yet he defended Jimmy Hoffa and the union in the face of corruption accusations. This is discussed in Robert F. Kennedy's The Enemy Within, his 1960 book about union corruption, and numerous secondary sources. I added some of these to the article. I think he's notable enough as a historic figure in the union movement. --Arxiloxos (talk) 17:52, 19 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, good find. I had tried to find an obituary and failed before making this nomination, but this gives me something to go by. I'll also rename to John F. English, in line with his VIAF name. --BDD (talk) 21:13, 19 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note I also favor renaming this page to John F. English or John English (Teamsters officer); I don't think "civil servant" is quite the right descriptor for an American union official. --Arxiloxos (talk) 18:54, 19 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.