Talk:List of people from Montana

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[edit] Feedback

This list seems amazingly complete and asserts notability and location within Montana. All lists seem to get challenged on the basis that they are lists, but if anything was to be challenged I assume it would be the appropriateness of the "Adult entertainment" section (I feel it is appropriate), and I would expect debates about notability within all other sections (this is also appropriate, when civil). Hyacinth 01:25, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I can see your point as to the Adult section, but I agree that it has a place. As to notability, I am not prepared to defend each listee as to their worthiness -- particularly in the "Athletics" section. My intention was rather to cast as wide a net as possible and let the community sort out those that don't belong. Deejayk 04:50, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Inclusion criteria

A great list! One question, though, is the amount of tenure required to qualify for inclusion -- for example, should prominent people who maintain second or vacation homes in the state be included? Lots of folks -- Ted Turner, Michael Keaton, Tom Brokaw, Huey Lewis, Glenn Close, and many others -- would qualify under that criterion. Pitamakan 15:43, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I'm not really sure where to drawn the line for people like Ted Turner. My initial reaction is to exclude them if they're not natives and not full-time residents and their notariety isn't linked to the state. I don't really want to expand the list to include everyone who has a vacation home in the state, however, it's difficult to really determine where the line should be drawn. There are probably a few on the list who have slimmer qualifications than Ted Turner, for example. Would a new catagory be appropriate for these "carpetbaggers"?

In addition, the list includes several people who were born in Montana, but left during their early childhood (e.g. Dana Carvey & Adam Morrison). It would be easy to make an argument that some or all of the folks you mention have made a bigger impact on the state than these "natives". However, I can defend the inclusion of these "natives" by the fact that they appear on several other lists of notable Montanans (outside Wikipedia) and so I feel their absense on this list would be notable. Deejayk 04:50, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

People who vacation in Montana are not from Montana and thus don't belong on the list. Hyacinth 19:16, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Keep in mind that this is not necessarily a list of Montana natives. The rub is that several of the people listed by Pitamakan above are folks who I wouldn't necessarily consider as "vacationing" in Montana -- they may spend over half their time in the state. I've spent some time looking around Wikipedia at similar pages, and haven't found much concensus as to who should be included in this type of list. Some of the things I have found:

• Individuals on this list are either native-born Arkansans or emigrants who have chosen Arkansas as their permanent home.
• Listed below are celebrities that have called Hawai'i home during some significant part of their lives.
• This is a list of people whose career was all or part in Illinois; people are not included if they left the state before beginning a career.
• The following is a list of prominent people who were born in the U.S. state of Maine, live in Maine, or for whom Maine is a significant part of their identity
• This is a list of notable persons who were born or spent important time in the state of Minnesota. Important or widely-recognized persons are listed in bold. Persons not born in Minnesota are marked with §.

My favorite of these approaches is the last (from Minnesota). Discuss... Deejayk 20:49, 15 May 2006 (UTC)