Revision 557145004 of "Robert Clark Young" on enwiki

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'''Robert Clark "Bob" Young''' (1960) is an American author of a novel, essays, short stories and journalism.  He has played a role in several prominent literary controversies. A series of articles in May, 2013 revealed that Young had been using a pseudonym to edit the Wikipedia biographies of his personal and professional adversaries in a negative manner.

== Life ==
Born in [[Los Angeles]] in 1960, Young was raised there and in and [[San Diego]].<ref name=graduate>{{cite news|url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=105B62689D54322F&p_docnum=32&p_queryname=1|title=UC Davis graduate publishes first novel|last=Sherwin|first=Elisabeth|publisher=Davis Enterprise|date=November 12, 1999|accessdate=May 26, 2013}}{{paywall}}</ref>  He studied writing at the [[University of San Diego]], the [[University of California, Davis]],<ref name=sweetheart>{{cite news|last=Sherwin|first=Elisabeth|url=http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~gizmo/2000/bobclark.html|title=First Amendment Sweethearts, Bob and Isabel|publisher=Davis Enterprise|date=October 15, 2000|accessdate=May 26, 2013}}</ref> and the [[University of Houston]].{{cn|date=May 2013}}  During 1987 and 1988 Young worked for the  [[U.S. Navy]] teaching remedial English to sailors on ships deployed in the [[Far East]].  He based his 1999 novel, ''One of the Guys'', on this experience.<ref name=wolves/>

''Someday You'', a documentary directed by [[Terisa Greenan]] about Young as a caretaker of his parents was completed in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/news-columns/someday-you-growing-through-caregiving/|title=Someday You: Growing Through Caregiving|first=Robert Clark|last=Young|publisher=Davis Enterprise|date=June 1, 2012|accessdate=May 18, 2013}}</ref>

== Career ==
''One of the Guys'' (Harper Perennial, 2000)<ref>ISBN 978-0060931896</ref> is a satirical novel about a man impersonating a U.S. Navy [[chaplain]].<ref name=NEAfoes>{{cite news|last=Collier|first=Gene|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20001025gene.asp|title=NEA Foes Miss Boat on Satire|publisher=Pittsburgh Post Gazette|date=October 25, 2000|accessdate=May 18, 2013}}</ref> The [[American Family Association]] criticized the fact that the [[Ohio Arts Council]] had given Young a $5000 grant while he was writing on the grounds that the novel was pornographic and that it denigrated Christianity.<ref name=moral>{{cite news|last=Garvin|first=Cosmo|url=http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2001-03-01/news.asp|title=Moral Minority|publisher=Sacramento News and Review|date=March 1, 2001|accessdate=May 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>Quinn, Brad, [http://web.archive.org/web/20010310135124/http://www.citybeat.com/2000-11-16/books.shtml In the Navy] ''Cincinnati CityBeat'', November 16, 2000</ref>  The AFA specifically objected to passages depicting Navy personnel patronizing child prostitutes.<ref name=wolves>{{cite web|last=Hansen|first=Suzy|url=http://archive.salon.com/books/feature/2001/03/22/guys/|title=Our Wolves in Uniform|publisher=Salon.com|date=March 22, 2001|accessdate=May 18, 2013}}</ref>

Young responded in a ''[[Washington Post]]'' op-ed,<ref>{{cite news |author=Young, Robert Clark|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-565017.html <!-- dead link: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A9154-2000Dec14&notFound=true --> |title=A Strange 'Family Values' Attack on the NEA|newspaper= Washington Post' |date= December 15, 2000}} </ref> stating that "I find it strange that an organization that claims to uphold family values and to oppose the federal funding of obscenity is not protesting the part of the military budget that goes to support pederasty in the Far East."<ref name=moral/>

In 2005, Margaret Butler, a librarian from [[Tuscaloosa, Alabama]], noticed that a short story by author [[Brad Vice]] appeared to be plagiarized from work by Alabama author [[Carl Carmer]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:DNPB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=10ED49C40330B620&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D663DC0A81A15EA|title=Plagiarism charge clouds a new writer's future|publisher=Denver Post|date=January 1, 2006|first=David|last=Milofsky|accessdate=May 18, 2013}}{{paywall}}</ref>  Young published a "derisive" article in the [[New York Press]] on the incident,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=10E6FE3E107B6FC8&p_docnum=3&p_queryname=1|title=Plagiarism Scandal Derails Vice's 'Train'|first=Tom|last=Baker|publisher=Daily Yomiuri|date=December 11, 2005|accessdate=May 18, 2013}}{{paywall}}</ref> in which he accused Vice of further plagiarism.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=10ED49C40330B620&p_docnum=2&p_queryname=1|title=War of words raging in Vice case|first=John|last=Sledge|publisher=Mobile Register|date=December 18, 2005|accessdate=May 18, 2013}}{{paywall}}</ref>

==Controversy over Wikipedia editing==
{{See also|List of Wikipedia controversies#2013}}
In May 2013, Young was accused by ''[[Salon (website)|Salon.com]]'' reporter Andrew Leonard<ref name=Leonard_revenge>
{{cite web
 |url = http://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/
 |title = Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia
 |last = Leonard
 |first = Andrew
 |date = May 17, 2013
 |website = [[Salon (website)|Salon.com]]
 |accessdate = May 20, 2013
}}</ref> of using the username Qworty to edit the Wikipedia articles about his personal and professional adversaries in a biased and negative way, while adding puffery to and deleting criticism from his own biography. Other writers soon added their commentaries about the situation.<ref name=Zhu>
*{{cite web
 |url = http://www.policymic.com/articles/42803/revenge-is-best-served-on-wikipedia
 |title = Revenge is Best Served On Wikipedia
 |last = Zhu
 |first = Kyle
 |date = May 17, 2013
 |website = PolicyMic.com
 |accessdate = May 26, 2013}}
*{{cite web
 |url = http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_05/the_unmasking_of_a_troll_and_w044818.php
 |title = The unmasking of a troll, and Wikipedia’s Achilles’ heel
 |last = Geier
 |first = Kathleen
 |date = May 18, 2013
 |website = [[Washington Monthly]]
 |accessdate = May 26, 2013
}}
*{{cite web
 |url = http://talkingwriting.com/what-should-we-do-about-wikipedia/
 |title = What Should We Do About Wikipedia?
 |editors = Nichols, Martha and Berry, Lorraine
 |date = May 20, 2013
 |website = Talking Writing.com
 |accessdate = May 26, 2013
}}
*{{cite web
 |url = http://santacruz.patch.com/groups/catch-the-buzz/p/biased-editing-at-wikipedia-causes-concern-over-accuracy
 |title = Biased Editing at Wikipedia Causes Concern Over Accuracy
 |last = [[David Jay Brown|Brown, David Jay]]
 |first =
 |date = May 22, 2013
 |website = SantaCruzPatch
 |accessdate = May 26, 2013
}}
*{{cite web
 |url = http://wildhunt.org/2013/05/anti-pagan-wikipedia-editor-outed-by-salon-com.html
 |title = Anti-Pagan Wikipedia Editor Outed by Salon.com
 |last = Pitzl-Waters
 |first = Jason
 |date = May 22, 2013
 |website = The Wild Hunt.org
 |accessdate = May 26, 2013
}}
*{{cite web
 |url = http://news.techeye.net/internet/wackypedia-admits-pagan-purge
 |title = Wackypedia admits pagan purge
 |last = Farrell
 |first = Nick
 |date = May 22, 2013
 |website = TechEye.net
 |accessdate = May 26, 2013
}}</ref> After initially denying Leonard's claim, Qworty admitted to being Young, and to having edited his own article along with those of writers with whom he had feuded. Soon after the story broke, Qworty was indefinitely blocked from editing Wikipedia.<ref name=Leonard_revenge/><ref name=indef_block>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Qworty&oldid=555676217#May_2013 Indefinite block notice on Qworty's discussion page.]</ref><!-- Do not remove ref to Qworty's user talk page. Use of Wikipedia as a primary source is justified because it has first been mentioned in a secondary RS. -->  According to a followup by Leonard, a backlash against Qworty was so fierce that his userpages were "blanked as a courtesy." As a result of Leonard's reporting, a [[Sockpuppet (Internet)|sockpuppet]] investigation was opened by Wikipedia editors to determine the extent of Young's editing under different usernames.<ref name=Leonard_mess>{{cite web
|url = http://www.salon.com/2013/05/21/wikipedia_cleans_up_its_mess/
|title = Wikipedia Cleans up its mess
|last = Leonard
|first = Andrew
|date =May 21, 2013
|website = [[Salon (website)|Salon.com]]
|accessdate = May 21, 2013
}}</ref><ref name=qworty_spi>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Qworty/Archive Sockpuppet investigation on Qworty.]</ref><!-- Do not remove ref to Qworty's SPI. Use of Wikipedia as a primary source is justified because it has first been mentioned in a secondary RS. --> [[Jimmy Wales]] responded to these reports by stating: "I would have banned him outright years ago. So would many others. That we did not, points to serious deficiencies in our systems."<ref name=Leonard_mess/><ref name=Jimbo_comments>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=555840000&oldid=555828831#Qworty Comment by Jimbo Wales]</ref><!-- Do not remove ref to Jimbo Wales' user talk page. Use of Wikipedia as a primary source is justified because it has first been mentioned in a secondary RS. --> In an additional ''Salon'' article, Leonard wrote that Young's personal opposition to [[Paganism (contemporary)|neo-paganism]] led to him pursuing a systematic campaign against Wikipedia articles on the topic, commenting that the time it took to stop Young raised concerns "about how well Wikipedia’s internal safeguards protect its integrity."<ref name=Leonard_pagan>{{cite news
|url = http://www.salon.com/2013/05/24/wikipedias_anti_pagan_crusade/
|title = Wikipedia’s anti-Pagan crusade
|last = Leonard
|first = Andrew
|date = May 24, 2013
|website = [[Salon (website)|Salon.com]]
|accessdate = May 24, 2013
}}</ref>

== Works ==
This section lists published works of fiction and non-fiction by Young.
* {{cite journal|title=One Writer’s Big Innings|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20071017134605/http://eastbaywriters.com/non_fiction/bob/biginnings.html|author=Robert Clark Young|journal=Black Warrior Review|date=Fall, 1992}}  Essay
*{{cite book|title=Bless Me, Father: Stories of Catholic Childhood|location=New York|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1994|isbn=9780452271548|chapter=Impurity}} (essay)
* {{cite journal|title=The Final Exit of Xavier Jones|journal=Gulf Coast A Journal of Literature and Fine Art|publisher=University of Houston|date=Spring-Summer 1997|author=Robert Clark Young}} Short story
* {{cite book|title=One of the Guys|author=Robert Clark Young|publisher=HarperCollins|year=1999|ISBN=0-06-019365-4}} Novel
* {{cite journal|title=Mimi and Cecilia: A Recollection|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070927084521/http://www.eastbaywriters.com/non_fiction/bob/mimiandcecilia.html|journal=Santa Monica Review|author=Robert Clark Young|date=Spring, 2003}} Essay
* {{cite journal|title=The Death of the Death of the Novel|journal=The Southern Review|volume=44|number=1|date=Winter 2008|author=Robert Clark Young}} Essay
* {{cite book|title=Thank You for Keeping Me Sober (in 3 volumes)|author=Robert Clark Young|year=2012|authormask= }} Non-fiction

==References==
 {{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* McInerney, Tom, [http://www.pw.org/mag/newsmcinerny115.htm NEA Funding up Despite Criticism] ''Poets and Writers Magazine'', January 2001 
* Sherwin, Elisabeth, [http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~gizmo/2005/felicia.html Meet Countess Felicia, The Richest Girl in the World], ''Davis Enterprise'', August 1, 2005

{{Authority control|VIAF=26386063}}

[[Category:Writers from California]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American short story writers]]
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:University of Houston alumni]]
[[Category:People from Imperial Beach, California]]
[[Category:Wikipedia personalities]]