Talk:Merle Miller

message: An anonymous editor recently added:
:The book is also inaccurate in its depiction of Truman's conference with MacArthur on Wake Island.  According to Plain Speaking, MacArthur's plane arrived at the same time as Truman's and circled the field, hoping that Truman's plane would land first and enable the general to upstage him.  According to eyewitness accounts, however, MacArthur arrived twelve hours ahead of Truman and was waiting for him at the airport when his plane landed.
I removed this again for two reasons.  First, it is uncited.  (Which "eyewitness accounts"?)  But more important, even if this were well-substantiated, it does not bear on the subject of the section.  Miller does not claim that the Wake island meeting occurred as described; he only claims that Truman said it occurred that way.  If Truman described the meeting incorrectly, and then Miller accurately relayed that incorrect description, then Plain Speaking is accurate.  To rebut this it's not enough to cite eyewitness accounts that the Wake Island meeting did not occur as described; one needs to find evidence that Truman described it correctly and that Miller then changed the description.  The rest of the section deals with claims of that type, but the new paragraph does not appear to, so it is out of place.
I hope this was clear. —Mark Dominus (talk) 14:36, 8 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Read any reputable biography of Truman, such as Man of the People, or David McCulloch's biography.  They both say the story is false.  Whether Truman made up the story or Miller did, it does raise serious doubts about Miller's credibility.97.73.64.168 (talk) 02:04, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text:  Do those biographies explicitly name Plain Speaking or Miller in their criticism of the story?  -- JTSchreiber (talk) 05:58, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Read David McCullough's acclaimed biography, "Truman".  He explicitly cited Miller's book and said it never happened that way. Any responsible biographer of Truman agrees that Miller's account of the Wake Island conference is false.71.48.148.40 (talk) 20:51, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

text: There are much stronger challenges to Miller's veracity.  The Ferrell-Heller article says that there is nothing about Kay Summersby on the Miller tapes. If this is true, then Miller made up the Summersby stuff in his book.  This is a direct attack on Miller's credibility, whereas the Wake Island problem is not.  So I think the Wake Island material does not add to our discussion of this issue, and I plan to remove it again.  —Mark Dominus (talk) 06:59, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I have done this. —Mark Dominus (talk) 14:40, 27 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  MacArthur and Truman on Wake Island 

message: Hello Mark,
I did add in the internal citations as corrected. Can you please correct the box at the top of the page that indicates internal citations are needed. Thanks so much for your help with this.
Lorac72 (talk) 18:15, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Updates Corrected 

message: The additions regarding Charles Kaiser's criticisms of Dr. Ferrell's criticisms of Plain Speaking appear to be completely uncited and unsourced. Furthermore, Kaiser's criticisms listed in the article don't really refute Dr. Ferrell's specific criticisms of Miller's work - noting that Dr. Ferrell "hung up" on him doesn't refute Ferrell's specific criticisms (published in a major, reputable magazine). Given all this, unless proper sourcing and citations are added, this material should be removed. Just a thought.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.145.229.162 (talk) 08:20, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree. —Mark Dominus (talk) 22:06, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Kaiser's Claims 

message: We cite this 1995 American Heritage article Plain Faking? as co-authored, but AH has just a byline for Francis H. Heller. So we should have another cite supporting Ferrell as co-author. Maybe the original print article had both?
Thanks to all for an interesting section on the "Plain Speaking" controversy!  Cheers, Pete Tillman (talk) 03:57, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Never mind, here's just that: https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-16892412/plain-faking, with bylines for both men. I'll add this to the article. --Pete Tillman (talk) 04:00, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Done, Pete Tillman (talk) 04:33, 12 October 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ferrell-Heller article?