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Myelodysplastic syndrome

A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may include fatigue, shortness of breath, bleeding disorders, anemia, or frequent infections. Some types may develop into acute myeloid leukemia.

Risk factors include previous chemotherapy or radiation therapy, exposure to certain chemicals such as tobacco smoke, pesticides, and benzene, and exposure to heavy metals such as mercury or lead. Problems with blood cell formation result in some combination of low red blood cell, platelet, and white blood cell counts. Some types of MDS cause an increase in the production of immature blood cells (called blasts), in the bone marrow or blood. The different types of MDS are identified based on the specific characteristics of the changes in the blood cells and bone marrow.

Treatments may include supportive care, drug therapy, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Supportive care may include blood transfusions, medications to increase the making of red blood cells, and antibiotics. Drug therapy may include the medications lenalidomide, antithymocyte globulin, and azacitidine. Some people can be cured by chemotherapy followed by a stem-cell transplant from a donor.

About seven per 100,000 people are affected by MDS; about four per 100,000 people newly acquire the condition each year. The typical age of onset is 70 years. The prognosis depends on the type of cells affected, the number of blasts in the bone marrow or blood, and the changes present in the chromosomes of the affected cells. The average survival time following diagnosis is 2.5 years. MDS was first recognized in the early 1900s; it came to be called myelodysplastic syndrome in 1976.

Signs and symptoms
Signs and symptoms are nonspecific and generally related to the blood cytopenias:
 * Anemia (low RBC count or reduced hemoglobin) – chronic tiredness, shortness of breath, chilled sensation, sometimes chest pain
 * Neutropenia (low neutrophil count) – increased susceptibility to infection
 * Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) – increased susceptibility to bleeding and ecchymosis (bruising), as well as subcutaneous hemorrhaging resulting in purpura or petechiae

Many individuals are asymptomatic, and blood cytopenia or other problems are identified as a part of a routine blood count:
 * Neutropenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia
 * Splenomegaly or rarely hepatomegaly
 * Abnormal granules in cells, abnormal nuclear shape and size
 * Chromosome abnormality, including chromosomal translocations and abnormal chromosome number

Although some risk exists for developing acute myelogenous leukemia, about 50% of deaths occur as a result of bleeding or infection. However, leukemia that occurs as a result of myelodysplasia is notoriously resistant to treatment. Anemia dominates the early course. Most symptomatic patients complain of the gradual onset of fatigue and weakness, dyspnea, and pallor, but at least half the patients are asymptomatic and their MDS is discovered only incidentally on routine blood counts. Previous chemotherapy or radiation exposure is an important factor in the person's medical history. Fever, weight loss and splenomegaly should point to a myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasm (MDS/MPN) rather than pure myelodysplastic process.

Cause
Some people have a history of exposure to chemotherapy (especially alkylating agents such as melphalan, cyclophosphamide, busulfan, and chlorambucil) or radiation (therapeutic or accidental), or both (e.g., at the time of stem cell transplantation for another disease). Workers in some industries with heavy exposure to hydrocarbons such as the petroleum industry have a slightly higher risk of contracting the disease than the general population. Xylene and benzene exposures have been associated with myelodysplasia. Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange are at risk of developing MDS. A link may exist between the development of MDS "in atomic-bomb survivors 40 to 60 years after radiation exposure" (in this case, referring to people who were in close proximity to the dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II). Children with Down syndrome are susceptible to MDS, and a family history may indicate a hereditary form of sideroblastic anemia or Fanconi anemia.

Pathophysiology
MDS most often develops without an identifiable cause. Risk factors include exposure to an agent known to cause DNA damage, such as radiation, benzene, and certain chemotherapies; other risk factors have been inconsistently reported. Proving a connection between a suspected exposure and the development of MDS can be difficult, but the presence of genetic abnormalities may provide some supportive information. Secondary MDS can occur as a late toxicity of cancer therapy (therapy associated MDS, t-MDS). MDS after exposure to radiation or alkylating agents such as busulfan, nitrosourea, or procarbazine, typically occurs 3–7 years after exposure and frequently demonstrates loss of chromosome 5 or 7. MDS after exposure to DNA topoisomerase II inhibitors occurs after a shorter latency of only 1–3 years and can have a 11q23 translocation. Other pre-existing bone-marrow disorders such as acquired aplastic anemia following immunosuppressive treatment and Fanconi anemia can evolve into MDS.

MDS is thought to arise from mutations in the multipotent bone-marrow stem cell, but the specific defects responsible for these diseases remain poorly understood. Differentiation of blood precursor cells is impaired, and a significant increase in levels of apoptotic cell death occurs in bone-marrow cells. Clonal expansion of the abnormal cells results in the production of cells that have lost the ability to differentiate. If the overall percentage of bone-marrow myeloblasts rises over a particular cutoff (20% for WHO and 30% for FAB), then transformation to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is said to have occurred. The progression of MDS to AML is a good example of the multistep theory of carcinogenesis in which a series of mutations occurs in an initially normal cell and transforms it into a cancer cell.

Although recognition of leukemic transformation was historically important (see History), a significant proportion of the morbidity and mortality attributable to MDS results not from transformation to AML, but rather from the cytopenias seen in all MDS patients. While anemia is the most common cytopenia in MDS patients, given the ready availability of blood transfusion, MDS patients rarely experience injury from severe anemia. The two most serious complications in MDS patients resulting from their cytopenias are bleeding (due to lack of platelets) or infection (due to lack of white blood cells). Long-term transfusion of packed red blood cells leads to iron overload.

Genetics
The recognition of epigenetic changes in DNA structure in MDS has explained the success of two (namely the hypomethylating agents 5-azacytidine and decitabine) of three (the third is lenalidomide) commercially available medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat MDS. Proper DNA methylation is critical in the regulation of proliferation genes, and the loss of DNA methylation control can lead to uncontrolled cell growth and cytopenias. The recently approved DNA methyltransferase inhibitors take advantage of this mechanism by creating a more orderly DNA methylation profile in the hematopoietic stem cell nucleus, thereby restoring normal blood counts and retarding the progression of MDS to acute leukemia.

Some authors have proposed that the loss of mitochondrial function over time leads to the accumulation of DNA mutations in hematopoietic stem cells, and this accounts for the increased incidence of MDS in older patients. Researchers point to the accumulation of mitochondrial iron deposits in the ringed sideroblast as evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction in MDS.

DNA damage
Hematopoietic stem cell aging is thought to be associated with the accrual of multiple genetic and epigenetic aberrations leading to the suggestion that MDS is, in part, related to an inability to adequately cope with DNA damage. An emerging perspective is that the underlying mechanism of MDS could be a defect in one or more pathways that are involved in repairing damaged DNA. In MDS an increased frequency of chromosomal breaks indicates defects in DNA repair processes. Also elevated levels of 8-oxoguanine were found in the DNA of a significant proportion of MDS patients, indicating that the base excision repair pathway that is involved in handling oxidative DNA damages may be defective in these cases.

5q- syndrome
Since at least 1974, the deletion in the long arm of chromosome 5 has been known to be associated with dysplastic abnormalities of hematopoietic stem cells. By 2005, lenalidomide, a chemotherapy drug, was recognized to be effective in MDS patients with the 5q- syndrome, and in December 2005, the US FDA approved the drug for this indication. Patients with isolated 5q-, low IPSS risk, and transfusion dependence respond best to lenalidomide. Typically, prognosis for these patients is favorable, with a 63-month median survival. Lenalidomide has dual action, by lowering the malignant clone number in patients with 5q-, and by inducing better differentiation of healthy erythroid cells, as seen in patients without 5q deletion.

Splicing factor mutations
Mutations in splicing factors have been found in 40–80% of people with MDS, with a higher incidence of mutations detected in people who have more ring sideroblasts.

IDH1 and IDH2 mutations
Mutations in the genes encoding for isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 (IDH1 and IDH2) occur in 10–20% of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, and confer a worsened prognosis in low-risk MDS. Because the incidence of IDH1/2 mutations increases as the disease malignancy increases, these findings together suggest that IDH1/2 mutations are important drivers of progression of MDS to a more malignant disease state.

GATA2 deficiency
GATA2 deficiency is a group of disorders caused by a defect, familial, or sporadic inactivating mutations, in one of the two GATA2 genes. These autosomal dominant mutations cause a reduction in the cellular levels of the gene's product, GATA2. The GATA2 protein is a transcription factor critical for the embryonic development, maintenance, and functionality of blood-forming, lymph-forming, and other tissue-forming stem cells. In consequence of these mutations, cellular levels of GATA2 are low and individuals develop over time hematological, immunological, lymphatic, or other presentations. Prominent among these presentations is MDS that often progresses to acute myelocytic leukemia, or less commonly, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

Transient myeloproliferative disease
Transient myeloproliferative disease is the abnormal proliferation of a clone of noncancerous megakaryoblasts in the liver and bone marrow. The disease is restricted to individuals with Down syndrome or genetic changes similar to those in Down syndrome, develops during pregnancy or shortly after birth, and resolves within 3 months, or in about 10% of cases, progresses to acute megakaryoblastic leukemia.

Diagnosis
The elimination of other causes of cytopenias, along with a dysplastic bone marrow, is required to diagnose a myelodysplastic syndrome, so differentiating MDS from anemia, thrombocytopenia, and leukopenia is important.

A typical diagnostic investigation includes:
 * Full blood count and examination of blood film: The blood film morphology can provide clues about hemolytic anemia, clumping of the platelets leading to spurious thrombocytopenia, or leukemia.
 * Blood tests to eliminate other common causes of cytopenias such as lupus, hepatitis, B12, folate, or other vitamin deficiencies, kidney failure or heart failure, HIV, hemolytic anemia, monoclonal gammopathy: Age-appropriate cancer screening should be considered for all anemic patients.
 * Bone marrow examination by a hematopathologist: This is required to establish the diagnosis since all hematopathologists consider dysplastic marrow the key feature of myelodysplasia.
 * Cytogenetics or chromosomal studies: This is ideally performed on the bone marrow aspirate. Conventional cytogenetics require a fresh specimen since live cells are induced to enter metaphase to allow chromosomes to be seen.
 * Interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization testing, usually ordered together with conventional cytogenetic testing, offers rapid detection of several chromosome abnormalities associated with MDS, including del 5q, −7, +8, and del 20q.
 * Virtual karyotyping can be done for MDS, which uses computational tools to construct the karyogram from disrupted DNA. Virtual karyotyping does not require cell culture and has a dramatically higher resolution than conventional cytogenetics, but cannot detect balanced translocations.
 * Flow cytometry is helpful to identify blasts, abnormal myeloid maturation, and establish the presence of any lymphoproliferative disorder in the marrow.
 * Testing for copper deficiency should not be overlooked, as it can morphologically resemble MDS in bone-marrow biopsies.

The features generally used to define an MDS are blood cytopenias, ineffective hematopoiesis, dyserythropoiesis, dysgranulopoiesis, dysmegakaropoiesis, and increased myeloblasts.

Dysplasia can affect all three lineages seen in the bone marrow. The best way to diagnose dysplasia is by morphology and special stains (PAS) used on the bone marrow aspirate and peripheral blood smear. Dysplasia in the myeloid series is defined by:
 * Granulocytic series:
 * Hypersegmented neutrophils (also seen in vit B12/folate deficiency)
 * Hyposegmented neutrophils (pseudo Pelger-Huet)
 * Hypogranular neutrophils or pseudo Chediak-Higashi (large azurophilic granules)
 * Auer rods – automatically RAEB II (if blast count < 5% in the peripheral blood and < 10% in the bone marrow aspirate); also note Auer rods may be seen in mature neutrophils in AML with translocation t(8;21)
 * Dimorphic granules (basophilic and eosinophilic granules) within eosinophils
 * Erythroid series:
 * Binucleated erythroid precursors and karyorrhexis
 * Erythroid nuclear budding
 * Erythroid nuclear strings or internuclear bridging (also seen in congenital dyserythropoietic anemias)
 * Loss of e-cadherin in normoblasts is a sign of aberrancy.
 * PAS (globular in vacuoles or diffuse cytoplasmic staining) within erythroid precursors in the bone marrow aspirate (has no bearing on paraffin-fixed bone-marrow biopsy). Note: one can see PAS vacuolar positivity in L1 and L2 blasts (FAB classification; the L1 and L2 nomenclature is not used in the WHO classification)
 * Ringed sideroblasts (10 or more iron granules encircling one-third or more of the nucleus) seen on Perls' Prussian blue iron stain (>15% ringed sideroblasts when counted among red cell precursors for refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts)
 * Megakaryocytic series (can be the most subjective):
 * Hyposegmented nuclear features in platelet producing megakaryocytes (lack of lobation)
 * Hypersegmented (osteoclastic appearing) megakaryocytes
 * Ballooning of the platelets (seen with interference contrast microscopy)

Other stains can help in special cases (PAS and naphthol ASD chloroacetate esterase positivity) in eosinophils is a marker of abnormality seen in chronic eosinophilic leukemia and is a sign of aberrancy.

On the bone-marrow biopsy, high-grade dysplasia (RAEB-I and RAEB-II) may show atypical localization of immature precursors, which are islands of immature precursors cells (myeloblasts and promyelocytes) localized to the center of the intertrabecular space rather than adjacent to the trabeculae or surrounding arterioles. This morphology can be difficult to differentiate from treated leukemia and recovering immature normal marrow elements. Also, topographic alteration of the nucleated erythroid cells can be seen in early myelodysplasia (RA and RARS), where normoblasts are seen next to bony trabeculae instead of forming normal interstitially placed erythroid islands.

Differential diagnosis
Myelodysplasia is a diagnosis of exclusion and must be made after proper determination of iron stores, vitamin deficiencies, and nutrient deficiencies are ruled out. Also, congenital diseases such as congenital dyserythropoietic anemia (CDA I through IV) have been recognized, Pearson's syndrome (sideroblastic anemia), Jordans anomaly – vacuolization in all cell lines may be seen in Chanarin-Dorfman syndrome, aminolevulinic acid enzyme deficiency and other more esoteric enzyme deficiencies are known to give a pseudomyelodysplastic picture in one of the cell lines; however, all three cell lines are never morphologically dysplastic in these entities with the exception of chloramphenicol, arsenic toxicity, and other poisons.

All of these conditions are characterized by abnormalities in the production of one or more of the cellular components of blood (red cells, white cells other than lymphocytes, and platelets or their progenitor cells, megakaryocytes).

World Health Organization
In the late 1990s, a group of pathologists and clinicians working under the World Health Organization (WHO) modified this classification, introducing several new disease categories and eliminating others. In 2008, the WHO developed a new classification scheme that is based more on genetic findings, but morphology of the cells in the peripheral blood, bone marrow aspirate, and bone marrow biopsy are still the screening tests used to decide which classification is best and which cytogenetic aberrations may be related.

The list of dysplastic syndromes under the new WHO system includes:

Note : not all physicians concur with this reclassification, because the underlying pathology of this disease is not well understood.

Myelodysplastic syndrome unclassified
The WHO has proposed a criterion for diagnosis and classification of MDS that may apply to most cases. However, occasional cases are difficult to classify into defined categories because of one or more unusual features:
 * Rare cases with less than 5% blast will present with Auer rods. These cases usually have the features of RAMD.
 * Occasionally, cases of MDS present with isolated neutropenia or thrombocytopenia without anemia and with dysplastic changes confined to the single lineage. The terms refractory neutropenia and refractory thrombocytopenia have sometimes been used to describe these cases. A diagnosis of MDS in patients with neutropenia or thrombocytopenia without anemia should be made with caution.
 * Patients with RA or RAEB occasionally present with leukocytosis or thrombocytosis instead of the usual cytopenia.

Management
The goals of therapy are to control symptoms, improve quality of life, improve overall survival, and decrease progression to AML.

The IPSS scoring system can help triage patients for more aggressive treatment (i.e. bone marrow transplant) as well as help determine the best timing of this therapy. Supportive care with blood products and hematopoietic growth factors (e.g. erythropoietin) is the mainstay of therapy. The regulatory environment for the use of erythropoietins is evolving, according to a recent US Medicare National coverage determination. However, no comment on the use of hematopoietic growth factors for MDS was made in that document.

Agents have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of MDS:
 * 1) 5-azacytidine: 21-month median survival
 * 2) Decitabine: Complete response rate reported as high as 43%. A phase I study has shown efficacy in AML when decitabine is combined with valproic acid.
 * 3) Lenalidomide: Effective in reducing red blood cell transfusion requirement in patients with the chromosome 5q deletion subtype of MDS
 * 4) Decitabine/cedazuridine (Inqovi) is a fixed-dosed combination medication for the treatment of adults with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML).

Chemotherapy with the hypomethylating agents 5-azacytidine and decitabine has been shown to decrease blood transfusion requirements and to retard the progression of MDS to AML. Lenalidomide was approved by the FDA in December 2005 only for use in the 5q- syndrome. In the United States, treatment of MDS with lenalidomide costs about $9,200 per month. The chemotherapy may be supported by other drugs like all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), however the evidence of benefit is not clear.

HLA-matched allogeneic stem cell transplantation, particularly in younger (i.e. less than 40 years of age) and more severely affected patients, offers the potential for curative therapy. The success of bone marrow transplantation has been found to correlate with severity of MDS as determined by the IPSS score, with patients having a more favorable IPSS score tend to have a more favorable outcome with transplantation.

Iron levels
Iron overload can develop in MDS as a result of the RBC transfusions, which are a major part of the supportive care for anemic MDS patients. Although the specific therapies patients receive may alleviate the RBC transfusion need in some cases, many MDS patients may not respond to these treatments, thus may develop secondary hemochromatosis due to iron overload from repeated RBC transfusions. Patients requiring relatively large numbers of RBC transfusions can experience the adverse effect of chronic iron overload on their liver, heart, and endocrine functions.

For patients requiring many RBC transfusions, serum ferritin levels, number of RBC transfusions received, and associated organ dysfunction (heart, liver, and pancreas) should be monitored to determine iron levels. Monitoring serum ferritin may also be useful, aiming to decrease ferritin levels to < 1000 µg/L.Currently, two iron chelators are available in the US, deferoxamine for intravenous use and deferasirox for oral use. These options now provide potentially useful drugs for treating the iron overload problem. A third chelating agent is available in Europe, deferiprone, for oral use, but is not available in the US.

Clinical trials in MDS patients are ongoing, with iron chelating agents to address the question of whether iron chelation alters the natural history of patients with MDS who are transfusion dependent. Reversal of some of the consequences of iron overload in MDS by iron chelation therapy has been shown. Both the MDS Foundation and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network MDS Guidelines Panel have recommended that chelation therapy be considered to decrease iron overload in selected MDS patients. Evidence also suggests a potential value exists to iron chelation in patients who will undergo a stem-cell transplant. Although deferasirox is generally well tolerated (other than episodes of gastrointestinal distress and kidney dysfunction in some patients), recently a safety warning by the FDA and Novartis was added to deferasirox treatment guidelines. Following postmarketing use of deferasirox, rare cases of acute kidney failure or liver failure occurred, some resulting in death. Due to this, patients should be closely monitored on deferasirox therapy prior to the start of therapy and regularly thereafter.

Prognosis
The outlook in MDS is variable, with about 30% of patients progressing to refractory AML. The median survival time varies from years to months, depending on type. Stem-cell transplantation offers possible cure, with survival rates of 50% at 3 years, although older patients do poorly.

Indicators of a good prognosis: Younger age; normal or moderately reduced neutrophil or platelet counts; low blast counts in the bone marrow (< 20%) and no blasts in the blood; no Auer rods; ringed sideroblasts; normal or mixed karyotypes without complex chromosome abnormalities; and in vitro marrow culture with a nonleukemic growth pattern

Indicators of a poor prognosis: Advanced age; severe neutropenia or thrombocytopenia; high blast count in the bone marrow (20–29%) or blasts in the blood; Auer rods; absence of ringed sideroblasts; abnormal localization or immature granulocyte precursors in bone marrow section; completely or mostly abnormal karyotypes, or complex marrow chromosome abnormalities and in vitro bone marrow culture with a leukemic growth pattern

Karyotype prognostic factors:
 * Good: normal, -Y, del(5q), del(20q)
 * Intermediate or variable: +8, other single or double anomalies
 * Poor: complex (>3 chromosomal aberrations); chromosome 7 anomalies

The IPSS is the most commonly used tool in MDS to predict long-term outcome.

Cytogenetic abnormalities can be detected by conventional cytogenetics, a FISH panel for MDS, or virtual karyotype.

The best prognosis is seen with RA and RARS, where some nontransplant patients live more than a decade (typical is on the order of three to five years, although long-term remission is possible if a bone-marrow transplant is successful). The worst outlook is with RAEB-T, where the mean life expectancy is less than one year. About one-quarter of patients develop overt leukemia. The others die of complications of low blood count or unrelated diseases. The International Prognostic Scoring System is another tool for determining the prognosis of MDS, published in Blood in 1997. This system takes into account the percentage of blasts in the marrow, cytogenetics, and number of cytopenias.

Genetic markers
Although not yet formally incorporated in the generally accepted classification systems, molecular profiling of myelodysplastic syndrome genomes has increased the understanding of prognostic molecular factors for this disease. For example, in low-risk MDS, IDH1 and IDH2 mutations are associated with significantly worsened survival.

Epidemiology
The exact number of people with MDS is not known because it can go undiagnosed and no tracking of the syndrome is mandated. Some estimates are on the order of 10,000 to 20,000 new cases each year in the United States alone. The number of new cases each year is probably increasing as the average age of the population increases, and some authors propose that the number of new cases in those over 70 may be as high as 15 per 100,000 per year.

The typical age at diagnosis of MDS is between 60 and 75 years; a few people are younger than 50, and diagnoses are rare in children. Males are slightly more commonly affected than females.

History
Since the early 20th century, some people with acute myelogenous leukemia were begun to be recognized to have a preceding period of anemia and abnormal blood cell production. These conditions were lumped together with other diseases under the term "refractory anemia". The first description of "preleukemia" as a specific entity was published in 1953 by Block et al. The early identification, characterization and classification of this disorder were problematical, and the syndrome went by many names until the 1976 FAB classification was published and popularized the term MDS.

French-American-British (FAB) classification
In 1974 and 1975, a group of pathologists from France, the US, and Britain produced the first widely used classification of these diseases. This French-American-British classification was published in 1976, and revised in 1982. It was used by pathologists and clinicians for almost 20 years. Cases were classified into five categories:

(A table comparing these is available from the Cleveland Clinic. )

People with MDS

 * Michael Brecker, musician
 * Laurentino Cortizo, the President of Panama
 * Roald Dahl, author
 * Nora Ephron
 * Joe Farrell, musician
 * Pat Hingle, actor
 * John Kirby, attorney
 * Joe Morgan, baseball player
 * Paul Motian, musician
 * James W. Nance
 * Robin Roberts, newscaster
 * Carl Sagan, astrophysicist
 * Susan Sontag, author
 * Fred Willard
 * Nina Foch Actress

title: Myelodysplastic syndrome


text:
Talk:Peafowl

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This article was the subject of an educational assignment at Washington University supported by the Wikipedia Ambassador Program during the 2012 Fall term. Further details are available on the course page.

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Lifespan
Seems that this article is poorly written as it is missing lots of vital information, including the lifespan (how old these animals live to be), how many eggs are laid on average and so on. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.228.234.232 (talk) 13:00, 6 June 2016 (UTC)

Peafowl's diet
I believe that more information on the diet of peacocks should be added in this text. Also there should be noted that there is a difference in the diet of wild and tame peacocks. Wild peacocks are omnivores, which means they eat food both from plant and animal origin. They eat fruit, grain, flower pedals but they also like crickets, termites and scorpions. Amazingly, these birds will eat snakes, especially poisonous ones. Tame or domestic peacocks are more choosy than the wild ones, eating mostly grass, breadcrumb and seeds. I feel like much more can be said about the topic on peacock's diet. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SlavicaZ3 (talk • contribs) 18:48, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

 * You are surely right; the article is currently largely a WP:COATRACK for material on evolution, and there's precious little on anything else - diet, distribution, non-courting behaviour, description, longevity, you name it. If you have sources (textbooks, papers) then by all means go ahead and add new material, but take care to reference it fully. Chiswick Chap (talk) 18:51, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

(ru)Interwiki
Hey people! Can you add the russian wiki's link, pls? I've tried do it myself but appears the Error message: ''An error occurred while saving. Your changes could not be completed.'' Деэба (talk) 15:05, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

Name of article?
The common name is peafowl? And not peacock? Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 06:57, 13 April 2016 (UTC)
 * The common name is peacock only to those who don't realize that a hen is not a cock. --Khajidha (talk) 11:39, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Fixing factual error: reverted as disruptive?
I revert an edit because it is factually incorrect. It's classed as "disruptive"?

Can I get another editor's opinion, please? IAmNitpicking (talk) 12:58, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 17 February 2017

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: not moved. While those in support of the move cite "peacock" as the WP:COMMONNAME, those in opposition counter that "peacock" is used specifically for the males and not the species in general. As a result, I do not find consensus to move this article at this time. -- Tavix ( talk ) 19:58, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Peafowl → Peacock – By far the more common name. This move has been suggested a few times in the past, and at least executed once (but reverted on procedural grounds), but no formal move request and discussion seems to be had until now. The reason is WP:COMMONNAME. While Peafowl isn't wrong per se, it is by far the less common name (Google hits excluding Wikipedia gives 560 thousand hits for peafowl, and 65 million for peacock!. GNews gives a similar 13,000 vs. 390,000, and even at Gbooks, where it is less outspoken, we get 80,000 vs. 560,000.) Fram (talk) 14:58, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
 * (came here via the RM notice) Support One could argue that WP:COMMONNAME's clause that inaccurate names (...) as determined in reliable sources are often avoided even though they may be more frequently used (...) is grounds for keeping the article in place, see the lead in the current version. However, it also says that Although official, scientific, birth, original, or trademarked names are often used for article titles, the term or name most typically used in reliable sources is generally preferred. Tigraan Click here to contact me 16:10, 17 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Support per nom and common name. Randy Kryn 16:29, 17 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Support. Shhhhwwww!! (talk) 17:24, 17 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Support – the current title is unbelievable. What the hell is a peafowl? Laurdecl talk 13:08, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Support the articles for the specific species should probably be renamed as well. Lepricavark (talk) 03:02, 19 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Oppose. I was here and typing in order to support, per WP:COMMONAME.  I discovered the original title was peacock.  But from the article itself I learned it is about the species, females as well as males, while the term peacock technically refers only to the male.  So I decided I would address that point by showing the common name for the species used in reliable sources is still peacock, and I went searching around nytimes.com to prove my point, my goto place for proving such points.  But I couldn't.  They clearly and properly distinguish peafowl, peacock and peahen at the New York Times!  .  I see no basis in usage in reliable sources that justifies this move, as obvious as it seems based on layman's language.  But we're supposed to reflect usage in reliable sources, not layman usage, in title decisions...  --В²C ☎ 19:40, 19 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Oppose nom per WP:NOT. Wikipedia is not a compendium of web hits but an encyclopedia.  I don't doubt that more people want to find web pages or photos of peacocks but this article is about all peafowl and not just the cocks.  The nomination claims WP:COMMONNAME but does not include evidence that peacock is the common name for all peafowl, only that more web users are interested in the males than the females.  If the article was just about the plumage or the cultural significance, I would agree to a move, but it is about the three species as a whole and the title should reflect that.  —  AjaxSmack   02:13, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Strongest Oppose Possible - IOC disagrees, that is the end of it. We use the IOC World Bird List for the common name, and since this bird is of the genera Pavo and Afropavo (probably should make that more clear), it is a peafowl. RileyBugz Yell at me  | Edits  02:29, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Oppose Agree with AjaxSmack, this is not meant to be a popularity contest.IAmNitpicking (talk) 04:34, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Oppose per B2C, hits in Google don't necessarily denote meaning. Sabine's Sunbird  talk  04:49, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Oppose - Above calls for move (and past attempts) are argument from ignorance. Shyamal (talk) 04:56, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

 * oppose apart from anything else, all the species in the genus are named as peafowl, eg Indian peafowl Jimfbleak - talk to me?  06:54, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Oppose. Peacock redirects here, and the article clearly explains why peafowl is the proper name for the species as a whole. Sounds just exactly like what an encyclopedia should do! MeegsC (talk) 09:47, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Oppose. To re-name would just be inaccurate. The re-direct from peacock is sufficient to bring uninformed readers to the "correct" page. Perhaps over time this is where wikipedia can use its powers for good and help clear the misconceptions of what the terms peacock, peahen and peafowl refer to. Loopy30 (talk) 17:05, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Oppose - strongly: Peacock and a peafowl are not synonyms. One is the male peafowl with the fancy tail and feathers, the other is the kind of bird. An article titled "Peacock" wouldn't be about the species or the peahen. Google hits are likely about peacocks and their interesting characteristics, but not about the species. SchreiberBike | ⌨   02:55, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

 * Strong oppose. By a non-ornithologist. "Peacock" is the male bird only (with assorted metaphorical and transferred meanings). "Peafowl" includes both peacock and peahen. What next? rename Guineafowl to Guineacock? I think not. (I'm mildly surprised that the U.S. Pruriency Police have never insisted on a change to "Pearooster".) Narky Blert (talk) 23:07, 21 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Peacock is commonly in use as the name for the species, just like snowcock or Peacock-pheasant is used, and not snowfowl. That ornithologists prefer peafowl is nice for them, but claiming that peacock is the male bird only is not how most people (who are not ornithologists but know peacocks anyway, it's not some obscure topic) use the term. Fram (talk) 08:21, 22 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Support. Although most of us know that peacock technically only refers to the male, unlike guineafowl this term is commonly used for the whole lot of them. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:04, 22 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Support. Very clearly the WP:COMMONNAME; people demonstrably use "Peacock" for the species as a whole rather than just the male birds, and opposing voices haven't countered this fact. Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, and Dictionary.com all note that people use the form "Peacock" in this way. At this stage, there's nothing incorrect or misinformed about this use, any more than there's a problem using the conventional name Guinea pig for an animal that's not a pig and doesn't come from Guinea. Notably, Encyclopaedia Britannica lists the bird under "Peacock"; if the common name is good enough for Britannica, it's good enough for the encyclopedia where WP:COMMONNAME is an explicit policy.--Cúchullain t/ c 15:45, 24 February 2017 (UTC)
 * The OED and M-W links clearly state that peafowl is the broader or more general word. Dictionary.com is an aggregator and the first entry is from a thesaurus. Shyamal (talk) 16:41, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

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History
Nothing about peacock as a dish. It did exist in the history, and it was anecdotical. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.91.51.235 (talk) 22:39, November 26, 2019 (UTC) — Berean Hunter   (talk)  22:48, 26 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Knock yourself out. You supply the citations and add the prose.
 * You can add new material directly to the existing section on Gastronomy where there is already an image of a dish included. Loopy30 (talk) 22:55, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

Difference between Male and Female
Okay, I'm confused. The Plumage section says females "lack the train and the head ornament." Then it says both species have a crest atop the head. Huh? So what's the "crest" and what's the "head ornament"? In the closeup of the adult (presumably male) head, I see a head ornament, but nothing resembling a crest. What are we talking about here? —MiguelMunoz (talk) 07:55, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

 * Agree the part on the head ornament is contradictory. YorkshireExpat (talk) 18:58, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

 * I have had a go at fixing this. YorkshireExpat (talk) 12:15, 13 March 2021 (UTC)

Also, the female doesn't have a train, but still "displays her plumage to ward off female competition or signal danger to her young." What plumage? They don't have a train. —MiguelMunoz (talk) 07:55, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

 * Have a look at some pictures on your favourite search engine. The females puff out their plumage as a warning, but they don't do the fan thing that the males do. YorkshireExpat (talk) 18:58, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

These questions could be addressed with photos of the female, including a close up of the head, so we could see the difference. (The one photo of a female doesn't show its tail.) A photo of a female displaying her plumage would also be helpful. I realize that the females aren't nearly as photogenic, but the article was written to inform, not entertain. MiguelMunoz (talk) 07:55, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

 * Agree, but don't have one, sorry. YorkshireExpat (talk) 18:58, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Eggs
Maybe it's just me. (See my user name.) Should the article refer to "peacock eggs"? Cocks do not lay eggs. Hens lay eggs. IAmNitpicking (talk) 02:53, 28 July 2021 (UTC)
 * No, good point. The Indian Peacock article notes that the females only incubate the eggs and the chicks follow the hen around, but I have given the father (grandfather?) some credit and gone gender neutral, however unfertilised eggs would come from a female! I guess that the male bird would have been sometimes eaten in preference to make a table display though. YorkshireExpat (talk) 05:50, 29 July 2021 (UTC)
 * One could argue that half of fertilized eggs would be "peacock" eggs, because the chick is male, but .... IAmNitpicking (talk) 12:38, 29 July 2021 (UTC)

English
I just noticed this. The article contains the Use Indian English template, while there is an attached page notice to say Use British English. Although the latter is earlier I think the former is more reasonable. Any thoughts? YorkshireExpat (talk) 16:28, 20 October 2021 (UTC)

 * I agree. I am going to update the edit notice for Indian English rather than British, as well as add the notice to the talk page. Indigopari (talk) 16:03, 11 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I added the talk page notice and filed an edit request for the edit notice. Indigopari (talk) 16:19, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Peafowl instead of peacock damages google searches
Due to Wikipedia changing the page to Peafowl instead of Peacock, if you google Peacock, you are given the wikipedia page of the NBC streaming service Peacock, even if you aren't American. I don't want to immediately start another contest to change the name but just do want this to be noted Kind Regards, NotAnotherNameGuy (talk) 15:43, 15 July 2022 (UTC)
 * It isn't "changing" in any meaningful sense. That has been the name for years. People should be encouraged to use better search engines, e. g. DuckDuckGo, which favors Wikipedia in its searches. (Note: not serious.) We don't do SOE here, as far as I know. IAmNitpicking (talk) 01:04, 16 July 2022 (UTC)

NBC peacock
The American NBC television found the peacock an excellent metaphor for bright color. NBC was an innovator in color TV, significantly preceding at the least its American competitors.

The file is taken from the Wikipedia article on "NBC", so I presume that the image already has at the least a fair-use rationale. The logo is no longer in use, so there can be no harm from its use.

Yes, as a symbol of a heavily-watched TV network it is certainly a cultural reference to a peacock. Face it: a multi-colored eagle would not have worked as well. The Laramie peacock is no longer in use. Pbrower2a (talk) 10:26, 21 March 2023 (UTC)

lean stack?
what's up with the food courtship theory's source? it links to like some health supplement?? Mstov (talk) 05:47, 22 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Looks as if the original online journal, naturalSCIENCE, went under and a domain squatter grabbed it for Lean Stack. I switched the reference to point to the Wayback Machine archive of the original article (but I sort of question its importance). IAmNitpicking (talk) 11:08, 22 May 2023 (UTC)

Darwin/Origin of Species doesn't actually say much about peacocks
The below section is from the current version of the article.

Sexual selection
Charles Darwin suggested in On the Origin of Species that the peafowl's plumage had evolved through sexual selection. He expanded upon this in his second book, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex."The sexual struggle is of two kinds; in the one it is between individuals of the same sex, generally the males, in order to drive away or kill their rivals, the females remaining passive; whilst in the other, the struggle is likewise between the individuals of the same sex, in order to excite or charm those of the opposite sex, generally the females, which no longer remain passive, but select the more agreeable partners."Sexual selection is the ability of male and female organisms to exert selective forces on each other with regard to mating activity. The strongest driver of sexual selection is gamete size. In general, eggs are bigger than sperm, and females produce fewer gametes than males. This leads to eggs being a bigger investment, so to females being selective about the traits that will be passed on to her offspring by males. The peahen's reproductive success and the likelihood of survival of her chicks is partly dependent on the genotype of the mate. Females generally have more to lose when mating with an inferior male due to her gametes being more costly than the male's.

The quoted section is just a general description of sexual selection, with no reference to peafowl. The follow-up paragraph is more on the general idea of sexual selection, that makes a lot more claims than is in Darwin's quote.

"In general, eggs are bigger than sperm, and females produce fewer gametes than males." <-- Yes, this is a very GENERAL quote, and has nothing to do with peacocks in particular. Or even birds...

"Females generally have more to lose when mating with an inferior male due to her gametes being more costly than the male's." <-- This is the most specific quote in this section, and it doesn't relate to how peahens select peacocks.

Furthermore, despite Darwin's The Origin of Species being referenced, the peacock is only mentioned 4 times in that book, and all of them are offhand mentions without talk about sexual selection.

Google searching has led me to some articles entitled "Darwin Hates Peacocks: How Beauty Shows that God Exists" and "How the Amazing Peacock's Feather Refutes Evolution" which I think may have to do with why there's suspiciously scanty (and somewhat questionable) generic sexual selection facts in the article that's supposed to be about peafowl. This may warrant further digging in the edit history to see if there's a root cause.

In any case, I have updated Darwin's quote to the most relevant peacock/sexual selection quote I could find from the The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, though it's much less "this is why peacocks have fancy tails" and more "this is what must have happened according to evolution and natural selection". Calabax (talk) 22:14, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

Who wrote this article?
I need to know in order to cite them,and the date of publication. 2603:7081:2CF0:8F60:2C72:A9D2:96DF:3137 (talk) 19:30, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

 * These people on these dates. YorkshireExpat (talk) 17:10, 8 May 2024 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Peafowl


text:
Talk:Continuous revelation

Theologies
It would be good to discuss how this concept is used in progressive theology and feminist theology as well. Not exactly the same, but similar. Probably shows up in other theologies as well that I'm not thinking of.

Also, the idea of the Church being guided by the Holy Spirit is common to most branches of Christianity, Orthodox, Catholic, and the thousands of Protestant denominations. It's hardly unique to the LDS. Wesley

 * True, (although in Mormonism, as in others, it goes beyond just "being guided by the Holy Spirit" to direct communication with divine messengers), but generally Protestant fundies sure don't like continuous revelation. B 22:51 15 Jul 2003 (UTC)

 * Direct communication with divine messengers (esp. angels) shows up in most Christian traditions; it's far from unique to Mormonism. What most Christians dislike is new revelation that contradicts earlier revelation. Wesley 23:34 15 Jul 2003 (UTC)

 * Ok, Wesley, please don't point out to me a third time somthing I've understood since childhood regarding what is "hardly unique to the LDS" or "far from unique to Mormonism". It's quite patronizing and condescending, especially after having explicitly acknowledged that by stating "as in others". But besides that, fundamentalists do not get uptight merely over revelation that contradicts earlier revelation; they would be very reluctant to expand their canon. For them the Bible is it, period. If they claim revelation, they would be unlikely to give it status equal to anything in the Bible. B 00:13 16 Jul 2003 (UTC)

After rereading this thread, I apologize for sounding condescending; I see now that your statements had already acknowledged the (weak?) point I was making. And yes, I agree with you that for most Christians the Biblical canon is closed; further revelation would be expected to build on top of what is already revealed in the Bible, not add to or replace that foundation. Wesley 16:20 16 Jul 2003 (UTC)

 * Ok, please overlook my defensiveness. You do make a point though...this article does need more rounding out as now it only states the LDS view generally. If the article is not likely to be expanded much it should probably be moved to "Continuous Revelation (Mormonsim)". I've not been brave enough to write a broader article partly because, like Great Apostasy, while the underlying concept is probably common to various sects, the phraseology may be unique to only one or a few sects. If this article is to be well developed, I think we need to determine how widely the article's phrase is used, and what is the most basic/common formulation of this concept among various sects. B 18:30 16 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Use of "continuous" and "continuing" in LDS terminology
The words "continuous" and "continuing" are not synonymous. The leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have repeatedly made it clear that the doctines of their faith teach continuing revelation, and not continuous revelation. Therefore this article has been incorrectly titled, or at least this sub section has been incorrectly placed under it. Original comment by User:The fiddler, moved from article.
 * See here for a conference talk by General Authority James E. Faust on the use of the term "continuous revelation." Tijuana Brass 17:23, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Bahá'í not here!
Bahá'í don't belong to here. Their revelation system is progressive, not continuous. LDS have a prophetic institution that, according to their system, is entitled to continuous or continuing revelation (which is not distinguishable in my language), i.e. updating, improving and rewriting the system simply because they're prophets. Bahá'í don't have this in their system. They have one last prophet for this millenium, and that's Bahá'u'lláh, STOP. Nobody have the right to update and make prophesies (according to their view) for at least 1000 years into the future. Bahá'í is very well written about in the article of Progressive revelation (Bahá'í) so it need not a section in this article too — a link to there will be enough. Rursus dixit. ( m bork3 !) 20:29, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Atheist religions
The lead part describes continuous revelation as God's revealing of divine principles to humanity, which cannot be true in case of Buddhism (terma is not described in the article) and Taoism. --178.66.40.75 (talk) 08:05, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Judaism
The Judaism segment is woefully underfilled. I am not Jewish myself, but I imagine there's more to say about Progressive/Reform Judaism and continuous revelation than Conservative Judaism :P — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.85.237.44 (talk) 22:34, 21 May 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Continuous revelation


text:
Tom Taylor

Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language at University College, London in the 1840s, after which he practised law and became a civil servant. At the same time he became a journalist, most prominently as a contributor to, and eventually editor of Punch.

In addition to these vocations, Taylor began a theatre career and became best known as a playwright, with up to 100 plays staged during his career. Many were adaptations of French plays, but these and his original works cover a range from farce to melodrama. Most fell into neglect after Taylor's death, but Our American Cousin (1858), which achieved great success in the 19th century, remains famous as the piece that was being performed in the presence of Abraham Lincoln when he was assassinated in 1865.

Early years
Taylor was born into a newly wealthy family at Bishopwearmouth, a suburb of Sunderland, in north-east England. He was the second son of Thomas Taylor (1769–1843) and his wife, Maria Josephina, née Arnold (1784–1858). His father had begun as a labourer on a small farm in Cumberland and had risen to become co-owner of a flourishing brewery in Durham. After attending the Grange School in Sunderland, and studying for two sessions at the University of Glasgow, Taylor became a student of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1837, was elected to a scholarship in 1838, and graduated with a BA in both classics and mathematics. He was elected a fellow of the college in 1842 and received his MA degree the following year.

Taylor left Cambridge in late 1844 and moved to London, where for the next two years he pursued three careers simultaneously. He was professor of English language and literature at University College, London, while at the same time studying to become a barrister, and beginning his life's work as a writer. Taylor was called to the bar of the Middle Temple in November 1846. He resigned his university post, and practised on the northern legal circuit until he was appointed assistant secretary of the Board of Health in 1850. On the reconstruction of the board in 1854 he was made secretary, and on its abolition in 1858 his services were transferred to a department of the Home Office, retiring on a pension in 1876.

Writer
Taylor owed his fame and most of his income not to his academic, legal or government work, but to his writing. Soon after moving to London, he obtained remunerative work as a leader writer for the Morning Chronicle and the Daily News. He was also art critic for The Times and The Graphic for many years. He edited the Autobiography of B. R. Haydon (1853), the Autobiography and Correspondence of C. R. Leslie, R.A. (1860) and Pen Sketches from a Vanished Hand, selected from papers of Mortimer Collins, and wrote Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1865). With his first contribution to Punch, on 19 October 1844, Taylor began a thirty-six year association with the magazine, which ended only with his death. During the 1840s he wrote on average three columns a month; in the 1850s and 1860s this output doubled. His biographer Craig Howes writes that Taylor's articles were generally humorous commentary or comic verses on politics, civic news, and the manners of the day. In 1874 he succeeded Charles William Shirley Brooks as editor.

Taylor also established himself as a playwright and eventually produced about 100 plays. Between 1844 and 1846, the Lyceum Theatre staged at least seven of his plays, including extravanzas written with Albert Smith or Charles Kenney, and his first major success, the 1846 farce To Parents and Guardians. The Morning Post said of that piece, "The writing is admirable throughout – neat, natural and epigrammatic". It was as a dramatist that Taylor made the most impression – his biographer in the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) wrote that in writing plays Taylor found his true vocation. In thirty-five years he wrote more than seventy plays for the principal London theatres.

A substantial portion of Taylor's prolific output consisted of adaptations from the French or collaborations with other playwrights, notably Charles Reade. Some of his plots were adapted from the novels of Charles Dickens or others. Many of Taylor's plays were extremely popular, such as Masks and Faces, an extravaganza written in collaboration with Reade, produced at the Haymarket Theatre in November 1852. It was followed by the almost equally successful To Oblige Benson (Olympic Theatre, 1854), an adaptation from a French vaudeville. Others mentioned by the DNB are Plot and Passion (1853), Still Waters Run Deep (1855) and The Ticket-of-Leave Man (based on Le Retour de Melun by Édouard Brisebarre and Eugène Nus), a melodrama produced at the Olympic in 1863. Taylor also wrote a series of historical dramas (many in blank verse), including The Fool’s Revenge (1869), an adaption of Victor Hugo's Le roi s'amuse (also adapted by Verdi as Rigoletto), 'Twixt Axe and Crown (1870), Jeanne d'arc (1871), Lady Clancarty (1874) and Anne Boleyn (1875). The last of these, produced at the Haymarket in 1875, was Taylor's penultimate piece and only complete failure. In 1871 Taylor supplied the words to Arthur Sullivan's dramatic cantata, On Shore and Sea.

Like his colleague W. S. Gilbert, Taylor believed that plays should be readable as well as actable; he followed Gilbert in having copies of his plays printed for public sale. Both authors did so at some risk, because it made matters easy for American pirates of their works in the days before international copyright protection. Taylor wrote, "I have no wish to screen myself from literary criticism behind the plea that my plays were meant to be acted. It seems to me that every drama submitted to the judgment of audiences should be prepared to encounter that of readers".

Many of Taylor's plays were extremely popular, and several survived into the 20th century, although most are largely forgotten today. His Our American Cousin (1858) is now remembered chiefly as the play Abraham Lincoln was attending when he was assassinated, but it was revived many times during the 19th century with great success. It became celebrated as a vehicle for the popular comic actor Edward Sothern, and after his death, his sons, Lytton and E. H. Sothern, took over the part in revivals.

Personal life
Howes records that Taylor was described as "of middle height, bearded [with] a pugilistic jaw and eyes which glittered like steel". Known for his remarkable energy, he was a keen swimmer and rower, who rose daily at five or six and wrote for three hours before taking an hour's brisk walk from his house in Wandsworth to his Whitehall office.

Some, like Ellen Terry, praised Taylor's kindness and generosity; others, including F. C. Burnand, found him obstinate and unforgiving. Terry wrote of Taylor in her memoirs: "Most people know that Tom Taylor was one of the leading playwrights of the 'sixties as well as the dramatic critic of The Times, editor of Punch, and a distinguished Civil Servant, but to us he was more than this. He was an institution! I simply cannot remember when I did not know him. It is the Tom Taylors of the world who give children on the stage their splendid education. We never had any education in the strict sense of the word yet through the Taylors and others, we were educated."

Terry's frequent stage partner, Henry Irving said that Taylor was an exception to the general rule that it was helpful, even though not essential, for a dramatist to be an actor to understand the techniques of stagecraft: "There is no dramatic author who more thoroughly understands his business".

In 1855 Taylor married the composer, musician and artist Laura Wilson Barker (1819–1905). She contributed music to at least one of his plays, an overture and entr'acte to Joan of Arc (1871), and harmonisations to his translation Ballads and Songs of Brittany (1865). There were two children: the artist John Wycliffe Taylor (1859–1925) and Laura Lucy Arnold Taylor (1863–1940). Taylor and his family lived at 84 Lavender Sweep, Battersea, where they held Sunday musical soirees. Celebrities who attended included Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Henry Irving, Charles Reade, Alfred Tennyson, Ellen Terry and William Makepeace Thackeray.

Taylor died suddenly at his home in 1880 at the age of 62 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery. After his death, his widow retired to Coleshill, Buckinghamshire, where she died on 22 May 1905.

Selected bibliography

 * Valentine and Orson, 1844
 * Whittington and his Cat, 1844
 * Cinderella, 1844
 * A Trip to Kissingen, 1844
 * To Parents and Guardians, 1845
 * Diogenes and his Lantern, 1849
 * The Vicar of Wakefield, 1850
 * The Philosopher's Stone, 1850
 * Prince Dorus, 1850
 * Our Clerks, 1852
 * Wittikind and his Brothers, 1852
 * Plot and Passion, 1853
 * A Nice Firm, 1853
 * Masks and Faces, 1854
 * To Oblige Benson, 1854
 * Two Loves and a Life, 1854
 * Still Waters Run Deep, 1855
 * The King's Rival, 1855
 * Helping Hands, 1855
 * Retribution, 1856
 * Victims, 1857
 * A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing, 1857
 * An Unequal Match, 1857
 * Our American Cousin, 1858
 * Going to the Bad, 1858
 * New Men and Old Acres, 1859
 * A Tale of Two Cities, 1859
 * Barefaced Impostors, 1859
 * The Contested Election, 1859
 * Nine Points of the Law, 1859
 * The Overland Route, 1860
 * Up at the Hills, 1860
 * The Babes in the Wood, 1860
 * The Ticket-of-leave Man, 1863
 * Sense and Sensation, 1864
 * Henry Dunbar, 1865
 * The Sister's Penance, 1866
 * The Fool's Revenge, 1869
 * Mary Warner, 1869
 * The Babes in the Wood, 1870
 * Twixt Axe and Crown, 1870
 * The Hidden Hand, 1870
 * Joan of Arc, 1871
 * Arkwright’s Wife, 1873
 * Lady Clancarty, 1874
 * Anne Boleyn, 1875
 * Settling Day, 1877

 * Source: Dictionary of National Biography.

title: Tom Taylor


text:
User:Silver plane

A music-obsessed, self-proclaimed expert and opinionated know-all, which is why I love Wikipedia!

Silver Plane is a song by Felt.

title: User:Silver plane


text:
Draft

Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:

Watercraft dimensions

 * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
 * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
 * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel

Selection processes

 * Draft (politics), groundswell of support to compel a candidate to run for office
 * Draft (sports), selection of players for professional sports teams
 * Conscription, selection for e.g. military service

Entertainment

 * Draft (musician) (born 1986), Electronic musician and DJ
 * Drafted (comics), a 2007 comic released by Devil's Due Publishing
 * The Draft (comics), a 1988 one-shot comic book from Marvel Comics
 * The Draft (band), an American punk rock band
 * Draft 7.30, a 2003 album by British electronic band Autechre
 * WWE draft, a World Wrestling Entertainment program which drafts superstars to different WWE brands
 * Draughts, board game, a.k.a. checkers
 * The Draft (The League), the series premiere of the FX (TV channel) television series The League
 * Draft (magazine), an American magazine about beer and beer culture

Heating, cooling, air flow

 * Draft (boiler), difference between atmospheric pressure and the boiler pressure
 * Chimney draught, outgoing flow into chimney of gases from combustion
 * Draught excluder, used to eliminate cold draught and slow heat loss
 * Mechanical draft, incoming flow of air to burn fuel for a boiler or engine
 * Vertical draft, vertical movement of air, which can be dangerous to airplanes

Finance

 * Demand draft, a check created by a merchant with a buyer's account number on it, but without the buyer's signature
 * Banker's draft, a form of check where the funds are taken directly from the financial institution
 * Sight draft, or time draft, an order for the payment of money by a banker

Other uses

 * Draught beer or other beverage, served from a bulk keg or cask rather than a bottle or can
 * Draft (engineering), the angle added to features perpendicular to the parting line of a casting or molding
 * Draft (aerodynamics), two objects in close proximity reducing overall drag
 * Draft document, a version of an unfinished document or other written work
 * Draft animal, an animal used to perform tasks
 * Draft horse, a large horse bred to be a working animal doing hard tasks such as plowing and other farm labor
 * Draught dog, a variety of working dog used to pull a cart
 * Draft (water)
 * Draught, an alternate term for a stream

title: Draft


text:
Chengyu

Chengyu are a type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expressions, most of which consist of four Chinese characters. Chengyu were widely used in Literary Chinese and are still common in written vernacular Chinese writing and in the spoken language today. According to the most stringent definition, there are about 5,000 chengyu in the Chinese language, though some dictionaries list over 20,000. Chengyu are considered the collected wisdom of the Chinese culture, and contain the experiences, moral concepts, and admonishments from previous generations of Chinese speakers. Chengyu still play an important role in Chinese conversation and education. Chinese idioms are one of four types of formulaic expressions, which also include collocations , two-part allegorical sayings called xiehouyu, and proverbs.

While not the only idioms in Chinese, and not always four characters long, they are often referred to as Chinese idioms or four-character idioms.

Origins, construction, and interpretation
Chengyu are mostly derived from ancient literature, including the pre-Qin classics, poetry from all periods of Chinese history, and late imperial vernacular novels and short stories. A small number were constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries from Western source materials. Among the early classical literature, the lyrical imagery from the Classic of Poetry, and the detailed stories recorded in the Zuo Zhuan and the Records of the Grand Historian serve as particularly rich source materials for chengyu. Since the Shijing poems consist of four-character lines, some chengyu are direct quotes from the Classic of Poetry. For example, 'ten-thousand year lifespan without bound', a traditional expression to wish someone a long life that often appears on bowls and tableware, quotes the poem "Tian Bao" (天保, poem #166) in the Lesser Court Hymns section of the Classic of Poetry. More commonly, however, chengyu are created by succinctly paraphrasing or summarizing the original text, usually by selecting the most salient characters from the passage in question and inserting any necessary classical grammatical particles.

As such, chengyu are fossilized expressions that use the vocabulary and follow the syntactic rules of Literary Chinese. Consequently, they convey information more compactly than normal vernacular speech or writing. They may contain subject and predicate and act as an independent clause (or even twin two-character independent clauses in parallel), or they may play the role of any part of speech in a sentence, acting syntactically as an adjective, adverb, verb, or noun phrase. In both speech and writing, they serve to succinctly convey a complex or multifaceted situation, scene, or concept, and used fittingly and elegantly, they also mark a speaker or writer's erudition.

The meaning of a chengyu usually surpasses the sum of the meanings carried by the four characters, as chengyu are generally meant to convey the message or moral of the myth, story or historical event from which they were derived. Thus, even after translation into modern words and syntax, chengyu in isolation are often unintelligible without additional explanation. Since they often contain a classical allusion, known as a diǎngù, elementary and secondary school students in greater China learn chengyu as part of the classical curriculum in order to study the context from which the chengyu was born.

Often the four characters reflect the moral behind the story rather than the story itself. For example, the phrase "" (, lit: "break the pots and sink the ships") is based on a historical account where the general Xiang Yu ordered his troops to destroy all cooking utensils and boats after crossing a river into the enemy's territory. He won the battle because of this "no-retreat" strategy. Thus, the idiom is used as a verb phrase with the meaning "to make an all-out effort to achieve success by the deliberate removal of recourse or backup." Similar phrases are known in the West, such as "Burning one's boats", "burning one's bridges", "Point of no return" or "Crossing the Rubicon".

Another example is (' 'melon field, beneath the plums', whose meaning relates to the appearance of misconduct or impropriety. It is derived from an excerpt of a Han-era poem (《》, Yuèfǔ Shī "Jūnzǐ Xíng"). The poem includes the lines 'don't adjust your shoes in a melon field, and don't tidy your hat under the plum trees' (，, '), admonishing the reader to avoid situations where, however innocent, he might be suspected of doing wrong. The idiom is impossible to understand without the background knowledge of the origin of the phrase.

Some idioms have had their literal meanings overtake their original ones. For example, 'wind from an empty cave' (空穴來風, kōng xué lái fēng), despite now being used to describe rumors without source, originally referred to rumors with actual, solid sources or reasons. Likewise, 'bare-faced facing the emperor' (素面朝天 is now used to describe beauty that does not require make-up, e.g., when entering court, while its original meaning was "to be confident in one's true look".

However, not all chengyu have stories to draw morals from. An example is 'speaking, yet without trust', referring to one who cannot be trusted despite what he says, an essentially deceitful person. It is generally acknowledged as a chengyu as it comes from the Analects. The idiom is succinct in its original meaning and would likely be intelligible to anyone learned in formal written Chinese, though yán (言) is no longer commonly used as a verb.

There are a few chengyu that are not four characters in length. An example is the seven-character 'The Old Drunkard's attention is not directed towards his wine'. This is a direct quote from Ouyang Xiu's essay An Account of Old Drunkard's Pavilion, in which the author, as the Old Drunkard, expresses his true intention of enjoying the scenery of the mountains and rivers as he drinks. As an idiom, it expresses the situation where one does something with an ulterior though benign motive in mind.

Some chengyu have English equivalents. For example, 'speak not from the bosom' and 'to speak with one's tongue in one's cheek' share idiomatic meanings. The Chinese not having conducted maritime explorations of the North Atlantic during imperial times, the expression 'one corner of an ice mountain' is a rare example of a chengyu that emerged in the early 20th century after contact with the West as a translation of the expression "tip of the iceberg," thus sharing both their literal and idiomatic meanings. Another expression 'extracting chestnuts from the fire', originating from a La Fontaine fable, means "to be duped into taking risks for someone else," used in much the same way as the expression "cat's paw" in English is another example of an "international" chengyu. Though they are recent in origin, they are constructed using the vocabulary and syntax of Literary Chinese and fits within the four-character scheme, making them chengyu.

Chinese idioms can also serve as a guide through Chinese culture. Chengyu teach about motifs that were previously common in Chinese literature and culture. For example, idioms with nature motifs – e.g., mountains, water, and the Moon – are numerous. Works considered masterpieces of Chinese literature – such as the Four Great Classical Novels – serve as the source for many idioms, which in turn condense and retell the story.

All Chinese people know idioms, though the total number known by any one individual will depend on their background. Idioms are such an important part of Chinese popular culture that there is a game called 'connect the chengyu' that involves someone calling out an idiom, with someone else then being supposed to think of another idiom to link up with the first one, so that the last character of the first idiom is the same as the first character of the second idiom, and so forth.

Chinese examples
The following three examples show that the meaning of the idiom can be totally different by only changing one character.
 * : "One day, a thousand autumns."
 * Meaning: implies rapid changes; one day equals a thousand years
 * : "One day, a thousand miles."
 * Meaning: implies rapid progress; traveling a thousand miles in a day
 * : "One day, three autumns."
 * Meaning: greatly missing someone; one day feels as long as three years

 * Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
 * Seek truth from facts
 * When two tigers fight
 * Mirror Flower, Water Moon

Japanese examples
Yojijukugo is the similar format in Japanese. The term yojijukugo is autological. Many of these idioms were adopted from their Chinese counterparts and have the same or similar meaning as in Chinese. The term koji seigo refers to an idiom that comes from a specific text as the source. As such, the overwhelming majority of koji seigo comes from accounts of history written in classical Chinese. Although a great many of the Japanese four-character idioms are derived from the Chinese, many others are purely Japanese in origin. Some examples:

 * ka, chō, fū, getsu ("Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon"; beauties of nature)
 * ichigo ichie (once-in-a-lifetime experience)
 * okamehachimoku (a bystander's vantage point)
 * temaemiso (singing one's own praises; tooting one's own horn)
 * futamatagōyaku (double-dealer; time-server)
 * fū, rin, ka, zan ("wind, woods, fire, mountain"; military proverb coming from Sun Tzu's "Art of War"; see also Fūrinkazan)

Korean examples
The Korean equivalent are Sajaseong-eo (사자성어; Hanja: 四字成語). They have similar categorization to Japanese ones, such as Gosaseong-eo (고사성어; Hanja: 故事成語) for historical idioms.

Vietnamese examples
Four word idioms or any idiom in Vietnamese are known as thành ngữ (chữ Hán: 成語, literally "set phrase/speech"). A large amount of idioms originating from Classical Chinese have been borrowed into the language, but there exists native counterparts to the Classical Chinese idioms. There are also many idioms that are Vietnamese in origin. Vietnamese idioms can be classified into Sino-Vietnamese idioms (Vietnamese: thành ngữ Hán Việt, chữ Hán Nôm: 成語漢越) and native Vietnamese idioms (Vietnamese: thành ngữ thuần Việt, chữ Hán Nôm: 成語純越) that were once written in chữ Nôm, are now written in the Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet.

Dictionaries of Mandarin Chinese Idioms

 * (Harvard University)(Digitized Jul 22, 2005)
 * (Harvard University)(Digitized Mar 4, 2009)

title: Chengyu


text:
Gloria Vanderbilt

Gloria Laura Vanderbilt (February 20, 1924 – June 17, 2019) was an American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite.

During the 1930s, she was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial, in which her mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, and her paternal aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, each sought custody of her and control over her trust fund. Called the "trial of the century" by the press, the court proceedings were the subject of wide and sensational press coverage, due to the wealth and prominence of the involved parties and the scandalous evidence presented to support Whitney's claim that Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt was an unfit parent.

In the 1970s, Vanderbilt launched a line of fashions, perfumes, and household goods bearing her name. She was particularly noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans.

Early life
Vanderbilt was born on February 20, 1924, in Manhattan, New York City, the only child of railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt of the Vanderbilt family and his second wife, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt. When Vanderbilt was born, her father was heard to exclaim in delight, "It is fantastic how Vanderbilt she looks! See the corners of her eyes, how they turn up?" She was baptized in the Episcopal Church by Bishop Herbert Shipman as Gloria Laura Vanderbilt. After her father's death, she was confirmed and raised in the Catholic Church, to which her mother belonged. From her father's first marriage to Cathleen Neilson, she had one elder half-sister, Cathleen Vanderbilt.

Upon their father's death from cirrhosis, when Vanderbilt was 18 months old, she and her half-sister became heiresses to a half share, each, in a $5 million trust fund, equivalent to $ million in value. The control of Vanderbilt's share, while she was a minor, belonged to her mother, who, for years, traveled to and from Paris, taking her daughter with her. They were accompanied by a beloved nanny—Emma Sullivan Kieslich, whom young Gloria had named "Dodo"—who would play a tumultuous part in the child's life, and her mother's identical twin sister, Thelma, who was the lover of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII), during this time. As a result of her spending habits, her mother's use of finances was scrutinized by the child's paternal aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. A sculptor and philanthropist, Whitney wanted custody of her niece, which resulted in a custody trial. The trial was so scandalous that at times, the judge would make everyone leave the room, so as to listen to what young Vanderbilt had to say, without anyone influencing her. Some people heard weeping and wailing, inside the court room. Testimony was heard depicting Vanderbilt's mother as an unfit parent, including an allegation from Marie Caillot, her discharged French maid, of a lesbian affair with the Marchioness of Milford Haven, a relative of the British royal family, which Lady Milford Haven would subsequently deny in her own testimony. Vanderbilt's mother lost the battle, and Vanderbilt became the ward of her aunt Gertrude.

Litigation continued, however. Vanderbilt's mother was forced to live on a drastically reduced portion of her daughter's trust, which was worth more than $4 million, at the end of 1937, equivalent to $ million in value. Visitation was also closely watched, to ensure that Vanderbilt's mother did not exert any undue influence upon her daughter with her supposedly "raucous" lifestyle. Vanderbilt was raised amidst luxury at her aunt Gertrude's mansion in Old Westbury, Long Island, surrounded by cousins her age who lived in houses circling the vast estate and in New York City.

The story of the trial was told in the 1980 Barbara Goldsmith book, Little Gloria... Happy at Last, and a 1982 NBC miniseries based on it, which was nominated for six Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Actress Jennifer Dundas played Gloria.

Vanderbilt attended the Greenvale School on Long Island; Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut; and then, the Wheeler School in Providence, Rhode Island, as well as the Art Students League in New York City, developing the artistic talent for which she would become increasingly known during her career. When Vanderbilt came of age and took control of her trust fund, she cut her mother off, entirely, though they later were reconciled. Her mother died in Los Angeles, in 1965.

Theater arts
From 1954 to 1963, Vanderbilt applied herself to acting. She studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse, with teacher Sanford Meisner, and debuted, in 1954, in The Swan, staged at Pocono Playhouse in Mountainhome, Pennsylvania. In 1955, she appeared on Broadway, as Elsie, in a revival of William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life. Vanderbilt also appeared in a number of live and filmed television dramas, including Playhouse 90, Studio One in Hollywood, and The Dick Powell Show. She made an appearance in a two-part episode of The Love Boat, in 1981. Other TV programs on which she appeared include Person to Person, with Edward R. Murrow, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Live! with Kelly and Michael and CBS News Sunday Morning.

Fashion
Vanderbilt began her career as a fashion model, when she was 15 years old, appearing in Harper's Bazaar.

During the 1970s, Vanderbilt ventured into the fashion business, itself, first with Glentex, licensing her name and a collection of her paintings for a line of scarves. In 1976, Indian designer Mohan Murjani's Murjani Corporation proposed launching a line of designer jeans carrying Vanderbilt's signature embroidered on the back pocket, as well as her swan logo. Her jeans were more tightly fitted than other jeans of that time and were an immediate success with customers.

In 1978, Vanderbilt sold the rights to her name to the Murjani Group and re-launched her own company, GV Ltd, which she had founded in 1976. With her company, she launched dresses, blouses, sheets, shoes, leather goods, liqueurs, and accessories. In the period from 1982 to 2002, L'Oreal launched eight fragrances under the brand name Gloria Vanderbilt. Murjan sold rights to the name Gloria Vanderbilt to the owners of Gitano Group Inc. in 1988.

Jones Apparel Group acquired the rights to Gloria Vanderbilt jeans in 2002.

Fraud trial
In the 1980s, Vanderbilt accused her former partners in GV Ltd. and her lawyer of fraud. After a lengthy trial (during which time the lawyer died), Vanderbilt won and was awarded nearly $1.7 million, but the money was never recovered. She was also awarded $300,000 by the New York City Bar Association. Vanderbilt also owed millions of dollars in back taxes, since the lawyer had never paid the IRS, and she was forced to sell her Southampton, New York, and Upper East Side homes.

Art
Vanderbilt studied art at the Art Students League of New York. She became known for her artwork, with one-woman exhibitions held of her oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels. Her first exhibition was held in 1948. This artwork was adapted and licensed, starting about 1968, by Hallmark Cards and by Bloomcraft (a textile manufacturer), and Vanderbilt began designing specifically for linen, pottery, and glassware.

In 2001, Vanderbilt returned to art and opened her first art exhibition, "Dream Boxes", at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester; it was a critical success. She launched another exhibition of 35 paintings at the Arts Center in 2007. Two years later, Vanderbilt returned to the Arts Center as a panelist at its Annual Fall Show Exhibition, signing copies of her latest novel, Obsession: An Erotic Tale.

When Vanderbilt celebrated her 90th birthday on February 20, 2014, a collection of her drawings, paintings and collages was placed on display in the 1stdibs Gallery at New York Design Center in New York City, in an exhibit called "The Left Hand Is The Dreamer".

Writings
Vanderbilt wrote two books on art and home decor, four volumes of memoirs, three novels, and a singular collection of short stories The Things We Fear Most. She was also a regular contributor to The New York Times, Vanity Fair and Elle. In November 2010, Vanderbilt was the subject of a new book chronicling her life, The World of Gloria Vanderbilt, written by Wendy Goodman, New York magazine's design editor. The book, published by Abrams Books, featured many previously unreleased photographs.

In January 2017, HarperCollins Publishers released a book, coauthored by Vanderbilt and her son Anderson Cooper, The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss. The book was described by its publisher as: "A touching and intimate correspondence between Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, offering timeless wisdom and a revealing glimpse into their lives".

Nothing Left Unsaid documentary
On April 9, 2016, HBO premiered Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper, a two-hour documentary, produced and directed by Liz Garbus. It features a series of conversations between the mother and son, covering her life and family history in the public eye.

Personal life
Vanderbilt was married four times, divorced three times, and gave birth to four sons. She also had other relationships.

Marriages
In 1941, aged 17, Vanderbilt went to Hollywood, where she became the second wife of Pat DiCicco, an agent for actors and an alleged mobster. They divorced in 1945 and had no children together. She later alleged that DiCicco was an abusive husband who called her "Fatsy Roo" and beat her. "He would take my head and bang it against the wall," Vanderbilt said, "I had black eyes."

In April 1945, within weeks of divorcing DiCicco, Vanderbilt married conductor Leopold Stokowski, who was 42 years her senior. He had three daughters by his previous marriages to Olga Samaroff, an American concert pianist, and Evangeline Love Brewster Johnson, a Johnson & Johnson heiress. She was his third and last wife. The marriage ended in divorce in October 1955 and produced two sons: Leopold Stanislaus "Stan" Stokowski (born August 22, 1950), and Christopher Stokowski (born January 31, 1952).

Vanderbilt's third husband was the director Sidney Lumet. She was the second of his four wives. They were married on August 28, 1956, and divorced in August 1963. They had no children together.

Vanderbilt's fourth marriage was to author Wyatt Emory Cooper, on December 24, 1963. The marriage, which lasted 15 years, ended with his death in 1978 while he was undergoing open-heart surgery. They had two sons: Carter Vanderbilt Cooper (January 27, 1965 – July 22, 1988), who died by suicide at age 23 by jumping to his death from the family's 14th-floor apartment, and Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967), a CNN news anchor.

Relationships
Vanderbilt maintained a romantic relationship with photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks for many years until his death in 2006. Other relationships included Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Howard Hughes and Roald Dahl.

Vanderbilt was very close friends with fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg. While appearing as a guest on her son Anderson Cooper's television talk show, Anderson on September 19, 2011, Vanderbilt referred to comedian and actress Kathy Griffin as her "fantasy daughter".

Truman Capote was speculated to have modeled the character of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's on Vanderbilt, but others say it was based on her friend Carol Grace.

Religious beliefs
Vanderbilt was baptized into the Episcopal Church as an infant, but was raised a Roman Catholic and received the Catholic Sacrament of Confirmation. She was particularly fascinated with St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Although religious in her youth, she was not a practicing Catholic in her later years.

Death and burial
Vanderbilt died at her home in Manhattan on June 17, 2019, aged 95, of stomach cancer. She is buried next to her son Carter and late husband Wyatt in the Cooper plot in the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery on Staten Island, New York.

Upon her death, Vanderbilt left her son, Anderson Cooper, almost her entire estate, which was valued at $1.5 million.

title: Gloria Vanderbilt