Talk:Russell Oberlin

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Date of death

Connormah and 142.255.43.45:

What's the source for Nov. 26 as his date of death? I find this elsewhere online too, (as well as other dates) but NY Times said "Friday," which would be Nov. 25.

The Guardian, perhaps based on the Times obit, also has 25 November.

Hosenrollen (talk) 06:20, 4 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Another source...

Don't know if it's useful, but it's independent, by a personal acquaintance. (Found on the Boston Camerata's twitter). 71.41.210.146 (talk) 13:20, 13 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Cohen, Joel (30 November 2016), "Russell Oberlin: 1928 – 2016", The Boston Musical Intelligencer

Thanks! I've now found this Nov. 26 announcement in Opera-L, which says he died Saturday evening. But I'm confused by the time stamp on the post. Is that Saturday a.m.? Did she then mean Friday evening?

The Facebook page has many posts, which I have yet to check through. Hosenrollen (talk) 22:18, 13 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

That message timestamp is indeed very early Saturday morning. "01:16:31 -0500" is 76 minutes after midnight, New York time (it was 06:16 in London, and late evening in Australia, but both Oberlin and the poster were in NY). So if the word "Saturday" in the announcement was in error (but "evening" was correct), then that could be the source of all the later confusion. 71.41.210.146 (talk) 02:51, 14 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

There's a Facebook post dated November 26 at 1:01 a.m. by a friend who was with him when he died: "Tonight I had the privilege..." It could have happened around midnight... I guess we should go with the Times/Guardian date, the 25th, with an eventual explanation in the footnote, although I don't think I'm up to figuring out the latter just yet. That explanation could end up longer than the article. (By the way, is Facebook considered an admissible source?) For now I'd put "See talk page" in the edit summary... Hosenrollen (talk) 21:12, 14 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Hosenrollen: I took a stab at it. I suppose it could have been after midnight, but you'd think someone would be busy grieving for an hour. Also, he died in NY, so I'd give the NYT extra credence; they presumably have the best sources for information. 71.41.210.146 (talk) 21:21, 17 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@71.41.210.146: Thanks. I agree, and in fact the NYT's stated source was RO'ss assistant/caregiver, who started the Facebook thread with the report of RO's grave illness. (I couldn't find any later postings by him but I want to revisit that page.) Do you think the Times, despite the extrapolation problem, should be referenced instead of the Guardian, or also?, or a combined reference? Anyway, it probably helps that the Times is cited elsewhere in the lead.

Is there a tag that's milder than "dubious" or "disputed" that could be used to indicate a lack of consensus? I guess the presence of a multiple footnote helps flag the issue. Anyway, maybe there will be a memorial announcement and probably tributes in music periodicals, with more definitive information, in weeks or months to come...Hosenrollen (talk) 16:35, 19 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Hosenrollen: I've been looking for that myself, but currently there's nothing better than ^{[dubious – discuss]}. And yes, I agree about future sources. 71.41.210.146 (talk) 01:05, 23 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Some confirmation of Nov. 25 date

A Choral Evensong at St. Thomas Church in New York on Jan. 19 (announced in NYT Death Notices) was dedicated to him. The webcast is still online. http://www.saintthomaschurch.org/calendar/events/worship/17998/choral-evensong#webcast

The dedicatory remarks (at about 11:10) state his date of death as November 25.

P.S. As there is an extended eulogy later in the service, I've added the webcast temporarily to the External Links. Hosenrollen (talk) 06:26, 31 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]