If you've received this message more than once, please excuse it; I'm
wrestling with a new e-mail system and it seems to be winning.  If you're
receiving it late, I'm also wrestling with a pile of incomplete and partly
out-of-date files, so bear with me.  If you haven't received ANY of these
postings, including this, be sure to let me know.  (Joke.)

In any case, thanks (again?) to all of you who responded to my posting
awhile back about the formation of a new Mark Twain interest group in New
York City, the Mark Twain Circle of New York.

We now have a date and time for our inaugural brunch meeting: Saturday, July
18, 1-3 pm.

There is no membership or admission fee; brunch is $9.50 per person plus tax
and tip.

I have reserved the upstairs room at Pete's Tavern, 129 East 18th Street (NW
corner of Irving Place).  This is one of New York's more venerable watering
holes and something of a literary landmark.  At least, they say there that
O. Henry wrote "The Gift of the Magi" there, scribbling furiously in the
second booth on the right while his anxious editor paced the floor.  It's a
nice story.

To make this a certifiable Mark Twain occasion, I will plan -- if time
permits -- on presenting a short slide talk on "Mark Twain's New York."
Other than that, this will be an informal get-together, intended to let New
York-area Twain lovers meet one another and find out if there are enough of
us, and enough interest and enthusiasm, to support a new literary, but not
particularly academic, group.  If there is, we hope to make more ambitious
plans for future meetings, such as guest lecturers, book discussions, and
other special events.

To reserve a place, please contact me via e-mail at [log in to unmask], or
call 212-242-5546.


Peter Salwen