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John Waters (columnist)

John Augustine Waters (born 28 May 1955) is an Irish columnist and author. He started his career with music and politics magazine, Hot Press, and also wrote for the Sunday Tribune newspaper. He later edited the social magazine In Dublin, and the investigative and current affairs magazine Magill. He became a regular columnist at the Irish Times and then the Irish Independent, while authoring some works on non-fiction, and developed The Whoseday Book, which raised 3 million euros for charity. He has also been a member of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

Waters was an unsuccessful independent candidate in the 2020 Irish general election for Dún Laoghaire constituency. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Midlands–North-West constituency at the 2024 European Parliament election.

Personal life
Waters was born on May 28, 1955 in Castlerea, County Roscommon to Thomas (1904–1989) and Mary Ita Waters (née McGrath; 1920–2012). From a relationship with singer Sinéad O'Connor, he has a daughter, born in 1996 in London. Following her birth, a long legal custody battle ensued resulting in Waters having custody of his daughter and living with her in Dalkey.

He suffered from an alcohol addiction until 1989 when he gave it up completely, a decision that he credits with transforming his life. He married Rita Simons in December 2014.

Early career
Waters's career began in 1981 with the Irish political and music magazine Hot Press. He wrote for the Sunday Tribune and later edited In Dublin magazine from 1985 to 1987 and Magill.

Waters has written several books and, in 1998, he devised The Whoseday Book — which contains quotes, writings and pictures of 365 Irish writers and musicians – raising €3 million for the Irish Hospice Foundation.

Irish Times and Irish Independent
Waters wrote a weekly column for The Irish Times from 1990 to 2014. He was briefly fired during a dispute with the then editor, Geraldine Kennedy, but was shortly thereafter reinstated.

In March 2014, Waters left The Irish Times, and shortly after started writing columns for the Sunday Independent and Irish Independent. In 2018 he released a new book called Give Us Back the Bad Roads. On 13 July 2014 the Sunday Independent published what it described as Waters' first column for the paper. He has since written regular columns for that paper and its sister the Irish Independent.

Waters is a fortnightly contributor to the American journal First Things and is a Permanent Research Fellow at the Center for Ethics and Culture, University of Notre Dame.

Politics and advocacy
Waters was an active participant in the Catholic cultural movement Communion and Liberation. He has given at least one talk to the Iona Institute.

He was a member of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland until he resigned in January 2014, during which time he was a litigant seeking damages from the broadcaster RTÉ.

In 2015, he became involved with First Families First in calling for a 'No' vote in the referendum for the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015.

In February 2018 he appeared with Nigel Farage at an Irexit conference organised by Hermann Kelly. The conference described itself as open "only to supporters of an Irish exit from the European Union". There were several members of the far-right National Party - headed by Justin Barrett - at the conference. He denied that Ireland was a republic, state or democracy. Waters was quoted as saying "We have to remove the media because they don’t permit us to have the conversation" to which the crowd responded enthusiastically. They also applauded his claim that immigrants "have no affinity or allegiance to the countries they end up in" and that "[t]his is our fault because we don’t demand it". He claimed that "Europeans no longer have a place to call home" and that European Christianity was being eroded by "metastatic cancer".

In 2019 he appeared in a number of podcasts with Gemma O'Doherty and Justin Barrett.

Balbriggan meeting
On 28 January 2020, Waters and O'Doherty addressed an Anti-Corruption Ireland meeting in Balbriggan. During the meeting he said "many of the ethnicities that are coming here” had “fertility rates that are two or three times the Irish rate" and claimed the great replacement conspiracy theory of Renaud Camus would happen in Ireland. He criticised the Fianna Fáil slogan "An Ireland for all", saying in an outraged tone "Who were Fianna Fáil referring to? ISIS? There are two words missing. Except Paddy". During his speech he openly speculated about being murdered in a nursing home by an immigrant care worker.

2020 general election
Waters ran under the banner of Gemma O'Doherty's far-right group, "Anti-Corruption Ireland", in the 2020 Irish general election, in the Dún Laoghaire constituency. In his pre-election writings he referred to the great replacement conspiracy theory and referred to The Strange Death of Europe. As Anti-Corruption Ireland is not a registered political party, he appeared on the ballot paper as an independent. Waters received 1.48% of first preference votes and was eliminated on the first count.

High Court action against COVID-19 legislation
On 15 April 2020, Waters and Gemma O'Doherty launched a legal action against laws dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. They sought to have various parts of the legislation declared null and void by a judge of the High Court.

The legislation included: as well as temporary restrictions brought in due to COVID-19 under the 1947 Health Act.
 * Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020
 * Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (COVID-19) Act 2020
 * The 1947 Health Act (Affected Areas) Order

Waters said to the court that the legislation was "unconstitutional", "improperly acted" and "very flawed". He said that the challenge was brought on the grounds that the laws were brought in by a caretaker government, by a Dáil where the number of TDs were limited and was enacted by an outgoing Seanad. The action was to be taken against the Minister for Health (Ireland), Ireland and the Attorney General. In a hearing on the matter, Mr Justice Paul Sankey said that the court was only concerned with the legality of the legislation and not about government policy, directed that the application for permission to bring the challenge be made on notice to the State respondents, and adjourned the matter for a week.

In a second hearing, the Counsel for the State, told the court that the State would oppose the application for leave to bring the challenge, and stated that the Seanad and Ceann Comhairle would need to be added as notice parties. During this hearing, O'Doherty stated that the vast majority of people were unaffected by COVID-19 which she said was "no threat to life" and that Irish people should be allowed to go outside and "build up a herd immunity". During the discussion, the applicants questioned if the proceedings were being held in public. Up to 100 supporters of the applicants gathered in the Round Hall of the Four Courts but were not permitted to enter the courtroom because of social distancing rules introduced because of COVID-19. An application to let some or all of the supporters into the courtroom was dismissed by the judge, who said that the court was being held in public and was being reported on by the media. The following day, Gardaí announced that there was an investigation into the large gathering at the Four Courts, stating that they had asked the group to disperse because of concerns with adherence to guidelines on social distancing and non-essential travel. Gardaí said the group dispersed and no arrests were made but investigations were ongoing.

At the next hearing, on 28 April 2020, there was a strong Garda presence at the Four Courts, and barriers were used to prevent crowds from entering the court. Members of the Public Order Unit and the Bridewell Garda station were stationed at all main entrances to the building. About forty supporters of the applicants turned up. No arrests were made. At this hearing, Mr Justice Charles Meehan fixed the applicant's appeal for hearing on 5 May 2020. During the meeting, O'Doherty said that the people of Ireland were under "mass house arrest" and Gardaí were "using guns" to frighten people.

On 5 May 2020, there was again a strong Garda presence outside the Four Courts. In her submission to the court O'Doherty said that the COVID-19 conditions were comparable to living in "Nazi Germany" and that the basis for introducing the restrictions was "scientifically fraudulent" and that evidence to that effect would be presented at the full hearing of their action. The State's representatives opposed the application for leave, saying that the claims were not arguable.

On 13 May 2020, Mr Justice Charles Meehan dismissed the applicant's case. He said that the applicant's claims were not arguable and the court could not grant them an application to have their challenge determined at a full hearing of the High Court. He said that the applicants had not provided any facts or expert evidence to support the view that the laws challenged by the applicants were unconstitutional, and noted that the applicants had "no medical or scientific qualifications or expertise, [and] relied on their own unsubstantiated views, gave speeches, engaged in empty rhetoric and sought to draw parallel to Nazi Germany which is both absurd and offensive".

On 2 March 2021, the Irish Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Waters and O'Doherty of the High Court's refusal to permit them to bring their challenge, and its award of costs of that hearing against them. Counsel for the state in the appeal argued that some of the applicants' submissions were "Bermuda Triangle stuff".

On 5 July 2022 the Supreme Court upheld the decision to dismiss the challenge brought by him and Gemma O'Doherty against the constitutionality of laws introduced in response to COVID-19.

2024 European Parliament election
He ran as an independent candidate in the 2024 European Parliament election in the constituency of Midlands–North-West. Waters received 13,692 (2.0%) first preference votes but was not elected.

Non-fiction and drama
Waters has written a number of works of non-fiction as well as plays for radio and the stage. The title of his first non-fiction book, Jiving at the Crossroads, is a pun of Irish president Éamon de Valera's vision of a rural Ireland which is often misattributed as "comely maidens dancing at the crossroads". In the book, Waters comments on modern Ireland. Another non-fiction work, Lapsed Agnostic, describes his "journey from belief to un-belief and back again."

Eurovision Song Contest
Waters has entered the Eurovision Song Contest. "They Can't Stop the Spring", the song he co-wrote with Tommy Moran and performed by the band Dervish, was selected following a telephone vote of viewers on RTÉ's The Late Late Show to be Ireland's entry in Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki. The song finished last in the European competition final, receiving only 5 points.

In 2010, RTÉ announced that Waters had sought to represent Ireland again at Eurovision, with the song "Does Heaven Need Much More?", co-written with Tommy Moran. In the Irish National Final on 5 March 2010, the song was performed by Leanne Moore, the winner of You're a Star 2008, and finished in fourth place.

Electric Picnic 2010
Waters attended the Electric Picnic music festival in 2010 and wrote that he felt a sense of dissatisfaction with the event, concluding that there was a lack of meaning underpinning events at the festival. Sunday Tribune journalist Una Mullally replied that if Waters felt disconnected or out of place at the Electric Picnic, that it was because the country had changed, and continued "perhaps this is the first Irish generation who have purposely opted out of tormenting themselves by searching for some unattainable greater meaning and who have chosen instead just to live".

Television
In 2007, Waters took part as one of the guest amateur chefs, in the RTE The Restaurant, programme. In 2008, he took part in a television programme which researched his family's past. Parish records revealed that his great-granduncle, also called John Waters, died of starvation during the Great Famine.

In 2011 he sat for the painter Nick Miller, the subject of a naked portrait for an Arts Lives RTÉ programme, called Naked.

Over the years Waters has participated on a number of current affairs programmes on Irish television, including Questions and Answers (RTÉ), Vincent Browne Tonight (TV3), and The Late Late Show (RTÉ).

Criticism of Blogsphere
During a newspaper review on radio station, Newstalk 106, Waters declared blogs and bloggers to be "stupid". He then repeated those claims the following week, sparking controversy amongst Irish bloggers who took exception to his views. In the same interview, Waters claimed that "sixty to seventy percent of the internet is pornography".

Northern Ireland
Of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the acceptance of the Good Friday Agreement by Sinn Féin, Waters has written, "After thirty years of conflict and more than 3,000 deaths, the Provos had achieved nothing more than had been on the table at the beginning. Now they were prepared to exchange all the alleged principles on which they had fought their 'war' for a few seats in an assembly that could have been agreed nearly three decades previously if they had been prepared to be reasonable. They had fought for 'freedom' and settled for power."

Pantigate
On 11 January 2014, Waters was mentioned by Irish drag queen Panti (Rory O'Neill) on RTÉ's The Saturday Night Show with Brendan O'Connor while discussing homophobia. O'Neill said that Waters, among other Irish journalists, was homophobic.

Waters and the others mentioned threatened RTÉ and O'Neill with legal action. RTÉ subsequently removed that section of the interview from their online archive. On 25 January episode of The Saturday Night Show, O'Connor issued a public apology to those named on behalf of RTÉ for being mentioned in the interview held two weeks previously. RTÉ compensated Waters and others mentioned.

RTÉ received hundreds of complaints about the issue. A rally against the payout and censorship drew 2,000 people, and the appropriateness of the payout was later discussed by members of the Oireachtas. The issue was also discussed in the European Parliament. RTÉ's head of television defended the €85,000 payout and blamed the decision mostly on Ireland's Anti-Defamation Laws.

Dispute with Irish Times colleagues
In February 2014, Waters' implicated fellow Irish Times journalist Patsy McGarry as the author of a handful of ad hominem Tweets, written anonymously. In the piece, Waters' alleged an institutional bias within The Irish Times against Catholic social teaching. Despite this, in March 2014, it was announced that John Waters had decided to stop contributing to The Irish Times. Reports stated that he had been unhappy at The Irish Times since the controversy.

Comments on depression
In April 2014, Waters replied when asked if he had become depressed because of the reaction to his actions over RTÉ and Rory O'Neill: "There's no such thing. It's an invention. It's bullshit. It's a cop out."

He was criticised by many, including Paul Kelly, founder of the suicide prevention charity Console, guidance councillor Eamon Keane, journalist Suzanne Harrington (whose late husband suffered from depression), gay rights activist Panti, charity campaigner Majella O'Donnell as well as online commenters.

His former partner Sinéad O'Connor expressed concern for Waters, saying that she thought he was suffering from depression and needed to admit it.

Faith and Society
Waters devoted much of his column space in The Irish Times to discussing the role and importance of religion and faith in society. In an interview, he has described people of faith as "funnier, sharper and smarter" than atheists. In a 2009 article titled "Another no to Lisbon might shock FF back to its senses" Waters voiced his opposition to gay marriage stating that it was "potentially destructive of the very fabric of Irish society".

Thirty-fourth amendment to the Constitution of Ireland
In 2015 a referendum was held on the matter of same-sex marriage. Before the referendum the Constitution was assumed to contain an implicit prohibition on same-sex marriage.

Waters was involved with a group opposing the referendum called First Families First, along with Kathy Sinnott and Gerry Fahey.

After the referendum passed, Waters described the result as 'catastrophic' for Irish society. He also said "Not just the gay, LGBT lobby, but virtually the entire journalistic fraternity turned on me and tried to basically peck me to death".

In February 2017, Waters spoke at a panel where he blamed LGBT activists for his decision to quit journalism. He said "I stopped being a journalist because of the LGBT campaign. They tried to present themselves as beautiful gentle people, but these people aren't". Waters compared the activists that attacked him to the Black and Tans, saying "I would prefer them to the people I met last year in the campaign. I would prefer them, bring them back. Bring back the Black and Tans". "The ugliest phenomenon I have ever seen in 30 years a journalist," Waters added.

He also claimed that the clerical child abuse cases were "closely aligned to homosexuality". He claimed "Now paedophile priests, there's no such thing… that's the single most interesting lie about all this. 90% of the abusers in Catholic church, they were not paedophiles, they were ephebophiles. An entirely different phenomenon. They were abusers of teenage boys which is closely aligned to homosexuality".

Urban/rural divide
In Jiving at the Crossroads he wrote about what he perceived the divide between secular urban Ireland and rural areas. He felt that the former looked down on the latter. In his Hot Press radio column he had relied on stock images of rural life, but the book was an attempt to make amends.

He was influenced by John Healy, admiring his works Nineteen Acres and The Death of an Irish Town.

Change in audience
From 2014 onwards, he mostly did not write to influence mainstream public opinion. The thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland recognised same sex marriage in Ireland (previously held to be prohibited by the constitution) and the thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which changed the constitutional position on abortion. He no longer wrote for a mostly Irish audience, but for one centred on the United States, becoming involved in culture wars between conservatives and progressives. He now appeared on conservative podcasts with large audiences.

Immigrants
In 2020, he publicly supported the Great Replacement conspiracy theory.

Direct provision
Direct provision is a system of asylum seeker accommodation that has been criticised as illegal, inhuman and degrading.

Far right groups, as part of their xenophobic policy, had been encouraging people to oppose DP centres for some years, with little success. However, in November 2018, a proposed DP centre was firebombed in Moville. The following February, protests against a proposed DP centre in Rooskey saw another arson attack on a proposed DP centre. In September 2019, Oughterard saw the largest ever protests against a proposed DP centre, which was blockaded night and day for three weeks. Another 24/7 protest began on Achill Island the following month, which continued until 2020, the longest ever protest against a DP centre. Plans to accommodate asylum seekers in these four places were dropped. While there have been small protests against DP centres since Achill, none have been successful.

In a podcast in 2019 he claimed that direct provision was not inhumane and that asylum seekers lived in luxury compared to how he grew up.

Other views
Waters has referred to himself as a "neo-Luddite" or later as a "luddite". At one stage he refused to use e-mail and stated his concern that society ignores the negative aspects of the Internet.

In his articles titled "Impose democracy on Iraq" and "Bush and Blair doing right thing", Waters explained his support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a position based on his belief that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the West due to its possession of weapons of mass destruction.

He wrote an article titled "Two sides to domestic violence", which criticised the lack of gender balance in Amnesty International's campaign against domestic violence in Ireland. Waters cited the National Crime Council report, conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute, which found approximate gender symmetry in most measures of domestic violence and he pointed out that despite these statistics, funding for women victims of domestic violence (€15 million) disproportionately outstrips funding for male victims. Waters' article led to a response from the head of Amnesty International's Irish branch.

Jailing over parking fine
In September 2013 he was jailed for around two hours in Wheatfield Prison over non-payment of a parking fine. The case dated back to 2011 and Waters claimed that he returned to his car one minute over a 15-minute grace period. He refused to pay the fine as a matter of principle.

Defamation action against Waters
In November 2018 The Irish Times journalist Kitty Holland took a defamation action against Waters for accusing her of lying about the cause of death of Savita Halappanavar. In July 2024 Holland was awarded €35,000 damages for defamation of character against Waters.

Non-fiction

 * Jiving at the Crossroads: The Shock of the New in Haughey's Ireland (Blackstaff, 1991) ISBN 978-0-85640-478-8
 * Race of Angels: Ireland and the Genesis of U2 (4th Estate/Blackstaff, 1994) ISBN 978-0-85640-542-6
 * Every Day Like Sunday? (Poolbeg, 1995) ISBN 978-1-85371-423-8
 * An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Ireland (Duckworth, 1997) ISBN 978-0-7156-2791-4 New edition (2001) ISBN 978-0-7156-3091-4
 * The Politburo Has Decided That You Are Unwell (Liffey Press, 2004) ISBN 978-1-904148-46-3
 * Lapsed Agnostic (Continuum, 2007) ISBN 978-0-8264-9146-6
 * Beyond Consolation: or How We Became Too Clever for God... and Our Own Good (Continuum, 2010) ISBN 978-1-4411-1421-1
 * Feckers: 50 People Who Fecked Up Ireland (Constable, 2010) ISBN 978-1-84901-442-7
 * Was it for this? Why Ireland lost the plot (Transworld Ireland, 2012) ISBN 978-1-848-27125-8
 * Give Us Back the Bad Roads (Currach Press, 2018) ISBN 9781782189015

Plays

 * Long Black Coat (with David Byrne) (Nick Hern Books, 1995) ISBN 978-1-85459-263-7
 * Holy Secrets (on BBC Radio 4, 1996)
 * Easter Dues (1997)
 * ''Adverse Possession (on BBC Radio 3, 1998)

title: John Waters (columnist)


text:
John Waters

John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. Other films he has written and directed include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism.

As an actor, Waters has appeared in the films Sweet and Lowdown (1999), Mangus! (2011), Excision (2012), and Suburban Gothic (2014), as well as the Child's Play franchise with the film Seed of Chucky (2004) and the third season of the television series Chucky (2024). He hosted and produced the television series John Waters Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You (2006). Throughout his career, Waters often collaborated with actor and drag queen Divine and his regular cast of the Dreamlanders. More recently, he performs in his touring one-man show This Filthy World.

Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such as installations, photography, and sculpture. The audiobooks he narrated for his books Carsick and Mr. Know-It-All were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively. In 2018, Waters was named an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.

Early life and education
Waters was born on April 22, 1946, in Baltimore, Maryland, one of four children born to Patricia Ann (née Whitaker) and John Samuel Waters, a manufacturer of fire-protection equipment. He was raised Catholic by his mother, though his father was not Catholic. Through his mother, who immigrated to the United States from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, as a child, he is the great-great-great-grandson of George P. Whitaker of the Whitaker iron family. Waters grew up in Lutherville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. His boyhood friend and muse, Glenn Milstead, later known as Divine, also lived in Lutherville. Waters lived at 313 Morris Avenue in Lutherville from his early teenage years until he moved out in his early twenties. Waters and Milstead shot many of their early films at the house, dubbing the front lawn the "Dreamland Lot".

The film Lili inspired an interest in puppets in the seven-year-old Waters, who proceeded to stage violent versions of Punch and Judy for children's birthday parties. Biographer Robrt L. Pela says that Waters's mother believes the puppets in Lili had the greatest influence on Waters's subsequent career (though Pela believes tacky films at a local drive-in, which the young Waters watched from a distance through binoculars, had a greater effect).

Cry-Baby was also a product of Waters's boyhood, because of his fascination as a seven-year-old with the "drapes" then receiving intense news coverage because of the murder of Carolyn Wasilewski, a young "drapette", and his admiration for a young man living across the street who had a hot rod. Waters was privately educated at the Calvert School in Baltimore. After attending Towson Jr. High School in nearby Towson, and Calvert Hall College High School, he graduated from Boys' Latin School of Maryland. While still a teen, he made frequent trips into downtown Baltimore to visit Martick's, a beatnik bar, where he and Milstead met many of their later film collaborators. He was underage and could not enter the bar proper, but loitered in the adjacent alley, where he relied on older patrons to slip him drinks.

Early career
Waters's first short film was Hag in a Black Leather Jacket. MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939) had a profound effect on Waters' creative mind. He said about it:

"I was always drawn to forbidden subject matter in the very, very beginning. The Wizard of Oz opened me up because it was one of the first movies I ever saw. It opened me up to villainy, to screenwriting, to costumes. And great dialogue. I think the witch has great, great dialogue."

Waters has stated that he takes an equal amount of joy and influence from high-brow "art" films and sleazy exploitation films. In January 1966, Waters and some friends were caught smoking marijuana on the grounds of New York University, and he was soon kicked out of his dormitory. He returned to Baltimore, where he completed his next two short films, Roman Candles and Eat Your Makeup. They were followed by the feature-length films Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs.

Waters's films became Divine's primary star vehicles. All of Waters's early films were shot in the Baltimore area with his company of local actors, the Dreamlanders—which, in addition to Divine, included Mink Stole, Cookie Mueller, Edith Massey, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Susan Walsh, and others. Waters met Edith Massey while she was a bartender at Pete's Hotel. Waters's early campy movies present exaggerated characters in outrageous situations with hyperbolic dialogue. Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Desperate Living, which he labeled the Trash Trilogy, pushed hard at the boundaries of conventional propriety and censorship.

Move toward the mainstream

Waters's 1981 film Polyester starred Divine opposite former teen idol Tab Hunter. It was the first time that Waters was not the primary camera operator for his own work, as he had started collaborating with local film student David Insley. Since then, his films have become less controversial and more mainstream, although works such as Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, Pecker and Cecil B. Demented still retain his trademark inventiveness. Hairspray became a hit Broadway musical that swept the 2003 Tony Awards; and a film adaptation of the Broadway musical was released in theaters on July 20, 2007, to positive reviews and commercial success. Cry-Baby, itself a musical, also became a Broadway musical.

In 2004, the NC-17-rated A Dirty Shame marked a return to Waters' earlier, more controversial work of the 1970s. Having received mixed reviews and bombing at the box-office, it would prove to be his last film as a director for almost two decades. In 2007, Waters became the host ("The Groom Reaper") of 'Til Death Do Us Part, a program on America's Court TV network. In 2008, he planned to make a children's Christmas film, Fruitcake starring Johnny Knoxville and Parker Posey. Filming was set for November 2008, but the project was shelved in January 2009. In 2010, Waters told the Chicago Tribune that "Independent films that cost $5 million are very hard to get made. I sold the idea, got a development deal, got paid a great salary to write it—and now the company is no longer around, which is the case with many independent film companies these days."

In October 2022, it was announced that Waters will adapt his novel, Liarmouth, into a film. Village Roadshow Pictures will produce, and Waters will write and direct. Waters has often created characters with alliterated names for his films, such as Corny Collins, Cuddles Kovinsky, Donald and Donna Dasher, Dawn Davenport, Fat Fuck Frank, Francine Fishpaw, Link Larkin, Motormouth Maybelle, Mole McHenry, Penny and Prudy Pingleton, Ramona Ricketts, Sandy Sandstone, Sylvia Stickles, Todd Tomorrow, Tracy Turnblad, Ursula Udders, Wade Walker and Wanda Woodward. On September 18, 2023, Waters was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Dreamlanders Ricki Lake and Mink Stole were among the guest speakers.

Other ventures
Waters is a bibliophile, with a collection of over 8,000 books. In 2011, during a visit to the Waters house in Baltimore, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson observed:

"Bookshelves line the walls but they are not enough. The coffee table, desk and side tables are heaped with books, as is the replica electric chair in the hall. They range from Taschen art tomes such as The Big Butt Book to Jean Genet paperbacks and a Hungarian translation of Tennessee Williams with a pulp fiction cover. In one corner sits a doll from the horror spoof Seed of Chucky, in which Waters appeared. It feels like an eccentric professor's study, or a carefully curated exhibition based on the life of a fictional character."

Waters has had his fan mail delivered to Atomic Books, an independent bookstore in Baltimore, for over 20 years. Puffing constantly on a cigarette, Waters appeared in a short film, shown in film art houses, announcing that "no smoking is permitted" in the theaters. The spot was directed by Douglas Brian Martin and produced by Douglas Brian Martin and Steven M. Martin. They also created two other short films, for the Nuart Theatre (a Landmark Theater) in West Los Angeles, California, in appreciation for their showing Pink Flamingos for many years. It is shown immediately before any of Waters' films, and before the midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Waters played a minister in Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis.

Waters is a board member of the Maryland Film Festival, and has selected and hosted a favorite film there each year since its launch in 1999. He is also on the advisory board of the Provincetown International Film Festival, and has hosted events and presented awards there every year since it was founded in 1999. He is a contributor to Artforum magazine and author of its year-end Top Ten Films list. Waters hosts an annual performance, "A John Waters Christmas", which was launched in 1996 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, and in 2018 toured 17 cities over 23 days.

In 2014, Waters began hosting an annual "Camp John Waters" event in Kent, Connecticut. Adult fans from as far away as Australia and Chile "relive their sleepaway camping days" with an "extra-campy theme weekend". Notable guests have included Debbie Harry, Patricia Hearst, Kathleen Turner, Mink Stole and Randy Harrison. In 2019, the Film Society of Lincoln Center celebrated its 50th anniversary at a gala where John Waters spoke in tribute to the Center along with Martin Scorsese, Dee Rees, Pedro Almodóvar, Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Moore, Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan.

Fine art
Since the early 1990s, Waters has been making photo-based artwork and installations that have been internationally exhibited in galleries and museums. In 2004, the New Museum in New York City presented a retrospective of his artwork curated by Marvin Heiferman and Lisa Phillips. His most recent exhibition John Waters: Indecent Exposure was exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art from October 2018 to January 2019 and later traveled to the Wexner Center for the Arts. Prior to that, Waters exhibited Rear Projection in April 2009, at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York and the Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles. Waters has been represented by C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, since 2002 and by Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York since 2006. Waters's pieces are often comical, such as Rush (2009), a super-sized, tipped-over bottle of poppers (nitrite inhalants), and Hardy Har (2006), a photograph of flowers that squirts water at anyone who traverses a taped line on the floor. Waters has characterized his art as conceptual: "The craft is not the issue here. The idea is. And the presentation."

In November 2020, Waters promised to donate 372 artworks from his personal collection, including some of his own work as well as pieces by 125 artists, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Cy Twombly, Cindy Sherman and more, to the Baltimore Museum of Art. In recognition of the donation, the museum named its rotunda after Waters, but Waters also insisted the museum name an all-gender bathroom after him. Both the rotunda and the bathroom were renamed for Waters in time for the opening of the first exhibition of his bequeathed collection, Coming Attractions: The John Waters Collection on November 20, 2022. Waters, who serves on the museum's board of directors, has stated the museum will acquire all of his art after his death.

Carsick
With the motif "My life is so over-scheduled, what will happen if I give up control?", Waters completed a hitchhiking journey across the United States from Baltimore to San Francisco, turning his adventures into a book titled Carsick. On May 15, 2012, while on the hitchhiking trip, Waters was picked up by 20-year-old Myersville, Maryland, councilman Brett Bidle, who thought Waters was a homeless hitchhiker standing in the pouring rain. Feeling bad for Waters, he agreed to drive him four hours to Ohio.

The next day, indie rock band Here We Go Magic tweeted that they had picked John Waters up hitchhiking in Ohio. He was wearing a hat with the text "Scum of the Earth". In Denver, Colorado, Waters reconnected with Bidle (who had made an effort to catch up with him); Bidle then drove him another 1000 mi to Reno, Nevada. Before parting ways, Waters arranged for Bidle to stay at his San Francisco apartment: "I thought, you know what, he wanted an adventure, too ... He's the first Republican I'd ever vote for."

Bidle later said: "We are polar opposites when it comes to our politics, religious beliefs. But that's what I loved about the whole trip. It was two people able to agree to disagree and still move on and have a great time. I think that's what America's all about."

Personal life
Although he has maintained apartments in New York City and San Francisco's Nob Hill, as well as a summer home in Provincetown, Waters mainly resides in Baltimore. All his films are set and shot there. He is recognizable by his trademark pencil moustache.

As a gay man, Waters is an avid supporter of gay rights and gay pride. In a 2019 interview, he said that he dislikes publicly discussing his personal life, adding that he had a partner but that they both preferred to keep the relationship private.

Waters was a great fan of the music of Little Richard when growing up. He has said that, ever since he shoplifted a copy of the Little Richard song "Lucille" in 1957, at the age of 11, "I've wished I could somehow climb into Little Richard's body, hook up his heart and vocal cords to my own, and switch identities." In 1987, Playboy magazine employed Waters, then aged 41, to interview his idol, but the interview did not go well, with Waters later remarking: "It turned into kind of a disaster."

Waters advocated for the parole of former Manson family member Leslie Van Houten, writing in his 2010 book Role Models, "Her crime was a long, long time ago and she has paid her dues to society".

Throughout his life, Waters has been open about his recreational drug use, including marijuana and LSD, particularly in regards to his creative process. Waters began using LSD as a teenager, "tak[ing] LSD and see[ing]...movies all the time". Waters was often on LSD while making his early films, claiming in a 2016 interview "I was on LSD [during Multiple Maniacs], I don't remember [how long it took to shoot the film]!" He tried LSD again in his 70s, and documented the experience in his 2019 book Mr. Know-It-All.

Waters was a smoker before quitting around 2004, saying "the only thing I've ever regretted in my whole life [was] smoking cigarettes. Because it was a nightmare giving up. It's the only thing the government ever told me that was true: It does kill you!" In 2022, Waters said that if he were to write his younger self a letter, he would say "quit smoking [cigarettes] and do everything else".

Television
Documentary appearances

 * American Cinema
 * The Andy Warhol Diaries
 * Beautiful Darling
 * Biography
 * Celebrity Ghost Stories
 * The Cockettes
 * Divine Waters
 * Divine Trash
 * The Drexel Interview
 * I Am Divine
 * Love Letter to Edie
 * E! True Hollywood Story
 * Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
 * Le Grand Journal (Canal+)
 * Guest of Cindy Sherman
 * HBO's First Look
 * Here's Looking at You, Boy – The Coming Out of Queer Cinema
 * How Porn Conquered the World
 * The Incredibly Strange Film Show
 * Inside Deep Throat
 * Intimate Portrait
 * It Came From Kuchar
 * Little Castles
 * Little Richard: I Am Everything
 * Lynch/Oz
 * Mansfield 66/67
 * Mansome
 * Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
 * Of Dolls and Murder
 * Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story
 * Queens of Disco (BBC Four)
 * SexTV
 * Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
 * Tab Hunter Confidential
 * The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!
 * That Man: Peter Berlin
 * These Amazing Shadows: The Movies That Make America
 * This Film Is Not Yet Rated
 * Tracks
 * VH1 Behind the Music (Blondie)
 * William S. Burroughs: A Man Within

Other credits

 * This Filthy World – Waters's touring one-man show, made into a feature film directed by Jeff Garlin
 * Mommie Dearest (1981) – Audio commentary on film's "Hollywood Royalty Edition" DVD release (2006)
 * The Little Mermaid Special Edition DVD (2006) – Interview on 'making of' documentary about Howard Ashman, the theatre (i.e. Little Shop of Horrors), and the inspiration behind the character Ursula: Divine
 * A Date with John Waters (2007), a CD collection of songs Waters finds romantic
 * Christmas Evil DVD release (2006) – Audio commentary
 * Breaking Up with John Waters – Waters's third CD compilation rumored as "currently in the works" in 2004
 * The Other Hollywood – Commentary and opinions about pornography throughout the book
 * "The Creep" (featuring Nicki Minaj) – Appeared on a television set in The Lonely Island's music video "The Creep", which made its debut on Saturday Night Live. Waters gives the introduction to the song and he is credited as a featured artist on the album.
 * Art:21 – Introducing Host for Season Two, "Stories" episode –  PBS DVD series

Published works

 * Waters, John (2019). Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-21496-8.
 * Waters, John (2019). Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-21496-8.
 * Waters, John (2019). Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-21496-8.
 * Waters, John (2019). Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-21496-8.
 * Waters, John (2019). Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-21496-8.
 * Waters, John (2019). Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-21496-8.
 * Waters, John (2019). Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-21496-8.

 * Novel
 * Waters, John (2022). Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-18572-5.

 * Screenplays

 * Photo collections

Discography

 * A John Waters Christmas – A CD of Christmas songs compiled by Waters (2004)
 * A Date With John Waters –  A CD of love songs for Valentine's Day compiled by Waters. New Line Records (2007)
 * Role Models –  Audiobook narrated by Mr. Waters. Tantor Media (2010)
 * Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America –  Audiobook narrated by Mr. Waters. Macmillan Audio (2014)
 * Make Trouble –  Spoken word speech. Jack White's Third Man Records (2017). Produced by Grammy-winner Ian Brennan
 * Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder –  Audiobook narrated by Mr. Waters. Macmillan Audio (2019)
 * Prayer to Pasolini –  Spoken word speech recorded at the murder site of filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini on the outskirts of Rome. Sub Pop Records (2021). Produced by Grammy-winner, Ian Brennan.
 * Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance (A Novel) –  Audiobook narrated by Mr. Waters. Macmillan Audio (2022)
 * It's in the Book –  Spoken word tribute to comedian Johnny Standley. Sub Pop Records (2022). Produced by Grammy-winner, Ian Brennan.

Awards and nominations
In 1999, Waters was honored with the Filmmaker on the Edge Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival. In September 2015, the British Film Institute ran a programme to celebrate 50 years of Waters films which included all of his early films, some previously unscreened in the UK.

In 2014, Waters was nominated for a Grammy for the spoken word version of his book, Carsick. His follow-up record, Make Trouble, was produced by Grammy-winning producer, Ian Brennan, and released on Jack White's Third Man Records in the fall of 2017. Waters received his second Grammy-nomination in 2020 for Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder.

In 2015, he received the Ted M. Larson Award at the Fargo Film Festival for his contribution to filmmaking.

In 2016, Waters received an honorary degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore during the college's undergraduate commencement ceremony. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Baltimore in 2023.

In 2017, Waters received Timeless Star honors from the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (now GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics). The group's career achievement award goes to an entertainment figure "whose exemplary career is marked by character, wisdom and wit."

In 2018, Waters was named an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, a cultural award from the French government.

In 2023, Waters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His friends and collaborators Mink Stole, Greg Gorman, and Ricki Lake spoke at the induction. Waters brought a photo of his parents to the unveiling, dedicating the honor to them. Waters' star was placed in front of Larry Edmunds Bookshop on Hollywood Boulevard, a store Waters frequents.

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

title: John Waters


text:
John Waters (actor)

John Waters (born 1948) is an English-born Australian film, theatre and television actor, singer, guitarist, songwriter, and musician. He is the son of Scottish actor Russell Waters. John Waters has been in the industry for over 50 years, and was part of the Australian children's television series Play School for 18 years.

Music
Waters was born in 1948 in London, England. He first faced a live audience as a singer and bass guitar player with 1960s London-based blues band The Riots before travelling to Australia, initially for an extended working holiday and then eventually settling there permanently.

Waters is an accomplished musician, and since 1992 has toured many times with his one-man show Looking Through a Glass Onion. Co-written with friend and musician, Stewart D'Arrietta, the show is a tribute to John Lennon featuring numerous examples of Lennon's music, words and images. In addition to many Australian tours of this show it also played six months in the West End, London. In 2014, it played 120 performances at the Union Square Theatre in Manhattan.

Waters has released a number of CDs including The Story of Pilliga Pete and Clarrie the Cocky (2010), a family story and music CD written and narrated by Waters, Brel (2010) a live album sung in French and a tribute to the Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel, the double live album, John Waters Looking Through A Glass Onion (2011) and his debut originals album Cloudland (2011).

Theatre
Waters’ first big break was in musicals, playing Claude in a Sydney production of Hair in 1969, then Judas in Godspell and Pontius Pilate in the Australian concert production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

He starred as Dracula in 1978 at the theatre in Quay St, Haymarket.

He was in the original Australian production of They're Playing Our Song, which opened on 23 August 1980 at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. It starred Waters and Jacki Weaver, with Rhonda Burchmore as one of the Inner Voices. An Australian cast recording of the show was later released by Festival Records.

In 1991 he played the narrator role of Lewis Carroll in the Jackson-Mayo production of Mike Batt's The Hunting of the Snark at the Hills Centre, Castle Hill, and the State Theatre in Sydney. He starred alongside Phillip Quast, Jacki Love, Cameron Daddo and Doug Parkinson.

In 2000, Waters appeared in a production of The Sound of Music, in which he played the part of Captain von Trapp, alongside Lisa McCune as Maria.

In 2005, Waters starred in David Williamson's play Influence as shock jock Ziggi Blasko. The play was performed in Sydney during March/April 2005 and in Melbourne in June/July 2005.

In 2008, he played The Narrator in Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show at Star City Casino, Sydney.

Waters has toured Australia in a critically acclaimed role alongside Brett Tucker in The Woman in Black.

In 2010 he starred in the Melbourne Theatre Company's production of The Swimming Club, a play by Australian author Hannie Rayson.

In 2013 Waters starred in The Addams Family musical as Gomez Addams. The production premiered in Sydney on 24 March 2013 and closed on 9 June 2013.

In 2017, Waters played Ulysses in Music Theatre Melbourne's concert production of Paris. He had previously played the role of Agamemnon on the musical's original concept album released in 1990.

In 2024 Waters will star in the Australian production of The Woman in Black as Arthur Kipps.

Television
Many Australians still remember Waters best from his nearly 20-year stint on the Australian children's series Play School, appearing from 1972 until 1991. During his tenure with Play School, he narrated various children's video trailers for ABC-TV.

Among his best known television roles is that of the brooding Sergeant Robert McKellar in the 1974–76 television series Rush (revoiced and parodied by The D-Generation as The Olden Days on their comedy program The Late Show).

Waters also appeared in the 1983 Australian miniseries All the Rivers Run as Brenton Edwards.

In 2002, he had a role in the short-lived drama Young Lions.

He played Perry Luscombe in Fireflies, which lasted for only one season, on ABC-TV in 2004.

Waters joined the cast of All Saints in June 2006 as Mike Vlasek, the new head of surgery. He remained with the show until its cancellation in late 2009.

In 2010, Waters was a guest star in Sea Patrol as Sgt. Booker.

In 2010, Waters guest starred in City Homicide as William Clegg.

In 2012, Waters starred in the ABC TV mini-series The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, adapted from the novel by English writer Fergus Hume. He appeared on the Logie-award-winning television series Offspring, which completed filming its third season in 2013 and was renewed for a further two seasons.

From September 2015, Waters joined the cast of the fourth season of the ABC TV series Rake.

In 2018 Waters had a recurring role, as lawyer Travis James, on the ABC TV Series Mystery Road.

Films
Waters played Capt. Alfred Taylor in the 1980 film Breaker Morant which starred British actor Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant.

In 1982, Waters appeared in the World War II film Attack Force Z alongside Mel Gibson, John Phillip Law and Sam Neill.

In 2013, Waters starred in a local regional film production created by Luis Bayonas, called Adios.

In 1990, film critic David Stratton, referring to the films, wrote that in his opinion Waters "has been in more bad films than most other actors around".

Other work
He has starred in many television advertisements for various companies including Cinzano, Bird's Eye, Bankers Trust, MBF Health Fund, Sudafed, Uncle Tobys, Qantas, Telstra, MLC, Arnotts and Toyota Hybrid Camry. He has narrated programs such as Mind Games: Real Life Adventures, Nostradamus and Triple Zero Heroes and ’All Together Now’'.

Awards
In 1975, Waters won the George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent at the Logie Awards for his role in Division 4.

In 1988, he won the AFI Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role as character Tom Garfield in the Frank Howson-written film Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

He has been nominated for several other awards, including Best Lead Actor (in 1978 for Weekend of Shadows) and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama (in 2006 for All Saints) at the AFI Awards, and for Most Popular Actor in a Telemovie or Mini-Series (in 1992 for Which Way Home) at the Logie Awards.

ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association. They commenced in 1987.

! Ref.
 * 1994
 * Looking Through a Glass Onion
 * Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album
 * Nominated
 * Nominated

Personal life
Waters’ first marriage was to actress Jenny Cullen, a union that produced two children. His second marriage was to actress Sally Conabere. His third marriage, to Zoe Burton, was in January 2002, and they became parents first to a son and later twins. Waters lives in the Southern Highlands, NSW, with Burton and their three children.

Community work
Waters lends his support to various community events including DUETS 2012, a concert to assist The Australian Children's Music Foundation (ACMF) (founded by fellow Play School presenter Don Spencer) and Carols in the Domain 2012. He is an ambassador for The Australian Children's Music Foundation.

title: John Waters (actor)


text:
Talk:Alan Hale Jr.

Section lacks notability
I'm ordinarily an inclusionist, but for this section even I'm feeling drowned in the weeds:

Dawn Wells said in a 2014 interview on CRN.com with Larry and Nancy Manetti, when asked if Alan Hale Jr. was the consummate professional of the Gilligan's Island series: "Well, that is so interesting, because Alan Jr. and his father looked so much alike, you don't know, who was who. His father did hang out all the time with Errol Flynn ... I used to say to Alan, 'How was it growing up in a household, with all those movie stars?' Alan was absolutely, the consummate professional, wonderful gentleman, jovial, never complained ... he was the exact same size of my dad. Every time he picked me up and hugged me, I thought he was my father, he was my dad." Wells also responded to the question if she ever went to her acting mentor's restaurant (that Hale once owned in Los Angeles): "It was a lobster house on La Cienega Blvd., and he would greet you with his sea hat on, as you can.... but that was after the show; and he had his friend, Anthony, there, with some good food, too." The last question asked of Dawn was if Gilligan's Island, was nearly his (Hale's) show: "No, no... as a matter of fact, it was interesting when you go back and find the people that they thought should play the other characters, and I understand Alan was doing a movie in Utah and they wanted to bring him to audition and he couldn't get a flight out, so ... he hitchhiked, hitchhiked on the highway and then, he came in to audition." After the show's cancellation, and until Hale's death, Wells not only stayed in touch with him but they were also frequently neighbors. After Hale's mother Gretchen died in 1979 the friendship between Hale and Wells grew closer.

If someone else wishes to restore this to the article, that's fine by me. — MaxEnt 21:20, 29 September 2023 (UTC) — MaxEnt 21:20, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Alan Hale Jr.


text:
Sariah

According to the Book of Mormon, Sariah was the wife of Lehi, and the mother of Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. She traveled with her husband from Jerusalem, into the wilderness, and eventually, across the ocean to the "promised land" (the Americas). She is noted for the story in First Nephi where she complains to Lehi for sending her sons back to Jerusalem thinking that they may have died. Once they return, Sariah testifies that her husband is truly a prophet. In Lehi's vision of the tree of life, Sariah chooses to eat the fruit representing God's love. She has two more sons, Jacob and Joseph, while traveling in the wilderness and almost dies of grief while crossing the ocean when Laman and Lemuel try to kill Nephi.

Scholars point out that Sariah helps prove Nephi's thesis that the faithful will become strong and will receive the mercy of the Lord as she receives a personal testimony after waiting for her sons to return from Jerusalem. Others suggest that Sariah would have managed the family travels, including tent set up and take down, food gathering, material weaving, and more. Additionally, it is proposed that the name Sariah in Hebrew means "Jehovah is Prince" or "Princess of Jehovah".

Narration
Sariah is part of the first family mentioned in the Book of Mormon and is also the only woman named in Nephi's records. Around 600 B.C., her husband, Lehi, is told by the Spirit to prophesy the destruction of Jerusalem if the citizens refuse to repent. Lehi's prophecies are rejected, and he is told to take his family out of Jerusalem and travel into the desert. Sariah, Lehi, and their four sons pack up what they need and leave their riches behind, ending up in a place they name the valley of Lemuel. After a period of time in the valley, Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi are sent back home to retrieve the brass plates.

As Sariah waits for her sons to return, she begins to worry that they have died in the wilderness and complains to Lehi for sending them back to the dangers of Jerusalem. Her husband comforts her, but she continues to worry until her sons return, when she testifies that Lehi truly is a prophet. This belief is shown again later when Lehi dreams of the tree of life and calls his family to come and eat the fruit, which represents God's love. Sariah, Sam, and Nephi come and eat while Laman and Lemuel choose other paths.

While traveling in the wilderness, Sariah has another two sons named Jacob and Joseph. Later, while crossing the ocean, Laman and Lemuel try to kill Nephi, causing Sariah and Lehi so much grief that they become sick and almost die. Sariah's actual death is not specifically mentioned in the Book of Mormon.

Nephi's thesis
Nephi claims at the beginning of his writings that those who are faithful will become "mighty" and the mercies of the Lord will be extended to them. According to Noel B. Reynolds, director of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon studies, this statement of Nephi's in 1 Nephi 1:20 is a thesis that he supports about thirty times with different events in his writings. These events include quoting prophecies from the brass plates that talk about the faithful delivered through the power of the Atonement and the angel saving Nephi and Sam from being beaten by their brothers. As Reynolds states it, Sariah's faith is contrasted against Laman and Lemuel's as she no longer needed to be persuaded to be faithful after her sons came back from Jerusalem, but Laman and Lemuel need to be reminded multiple times of their faith.

Role in desert travel
Anthropologist and Book of Mormon researcher Brant A. Gardner says as the wife of a wealthy man in Jerusalem, Sariah would have been used to running a household and would have had the responsibility of managing the family while they traveled as well. In Heather B. Moore's book Women of the Book of Mormon, she explains that in Sariah's time, nomadic women in that area of the world were responsible to forage for food and make and serve each meal. According to Moore and retired BYU professor Camille Fronk, the women also helped with childbirth during the journey, and were responsible to collect water, gather firewood, weave materials like tent cords, and set up or take down the tents.

Murmuring in the desert
While Lehi had a vision and was commanded by the Lord to leave Jerusalem, Sariah had to leave behind her home and connections with no "personal witness" that it truly needed to happen, says Fronk. She worries in 1 Nephi 5:2-9 that "her sons are no more." Joseph Spencer notices the variety of pronouns she uses in conversation with Lehi, switching between "my," "thou," and "our," showing subtle doubt about her unity of purpose with Lehi. Lehi's responses, using mostly "I," and "my," fail to unify them, and she is only truly comforted by the return of her children. In The Book of Mormon for the Least of These, Fatimah S. Salleh and Margaret Olsen Hemming talk of Sariah's experience in the same passage. They claim that while most people read the verses as a negative perspective on Sariah, looking closer reveals her faith as she leaves her valuables, birthright, and people behind for the wilderness. Lehi sincerely acknowledges her sadness and comforts her in her grief In Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary, Brant A. Gardner suggests that in the scriptural account, Sariah showed no hesitation following Lehi into the wilderness and the only time she holds back is when she believes her sons might be lost. Gardner proposes that she only questions Lehi's calling as a prophet when his direction seems to have led her sons into unknown danger.

Proposed Etymology
In the Bible, the Hebrew śryh is written Seraiah, which would represent Hebrew pronunciation of sera-yah or sra-ya, meaning “Jehovah has struggled”. Jeffrey R. Chadwick of the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center suggests based on recent evidence that the name is more like sar-yah, which means closer to “Jehovah is prince.”

Alternatively, Camille Fronk says that the name Sariah could mean "Princess of Jehovah."

Cultural Reception
Several poems have been written about Sariah, including Sariah by Marni Aspond Campbell, a portion of the poetry book Branches that Run over the Wall by Louisa Greene Richards, and a section of Book of Mormon Abridged in Rhyme by Orrin R. Wilcox. Another poem regarding Sariah is Sorrow and Song in the book Psalm & Selah: a poetic journey through The Book of Mormon.

Sariah is also depicted in a master's thesis, Portrayal of Women in the Book of Mormon which explores understanding the roles of women in the Book of Mormon through choreography.

Family tree
Sariah's immediate family is shown in the diagram below.

title: Sariah