Changes

:21. Wikipedia's article about the late Senator John Tower includes this choice bit of gossip: "Senator Tower married Lila Burt Cummings in 1977. John and Lila Tower were divorced in 1987, and she died thereafter. As the embittered Lila lay near death from cancer, she refused to accept flowers sent to her by John Tower, according to Tower's former assistant Ken Towery."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tower<ref/> No real encyclopedia would print such silly gossip.

:21. Wikipedia's article about the late Senator John Tower includes this choice bit of gossip: "Senator Tower married Lila Burt Cummings in 1977. John and Lila Tower were divorced in 1987, and she died thereafter. As the embittered Lila lay near death from cancer, she refused to accept flowers sent to her by John Tower, according to Tower's former assistant Ken Towery."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tower<ref/> No real encyclopedia would print such silly gossip.

I have to point out that as I write this, there are currently ''two'' online self-described "encyclopedias" containing this item: Wikipedia and Conservapedia. I'm not sure how you can solve this particular Catch-22. ~~~~

I have to point out that as I write this, there are currently ''two'' online self-described "encyclopedias" containing this item: Wikipedia and Conservapedia. I'm not sure how you can solve this particular Catch-22.

 

P. S. There are two questions to be asked about this item: a) is it appropriate for an encyclopedia, and b) is it accurate? Looking only at the ''second'' question, I see that Wikipedia gives no source for the item, and a few quick searches on the Web and in Google Books don't immediately turn one up. I've marked the item in Wikipedia as needing a source, identified the editor who inserted the item, and left a note on his Talk page saying "I don't hold much admiration for Senator Tower, but an item like this really needs a good source citation." If a source citation isn't provided I'll remove the item, and if nobody finds a source, my removal of the item will probably stick. ~~~~