I hope Jocelyn Chadwick reconsiders and apologize if I in any way  
contributed to her departure.

I think it unfair to place a further burden on this forum's  
benevolent administrator by asking him to serve as a bouncer.

I cannot in good faith call for the ouster of Mr. Fears. I ask my  
friends to reconsider this request. I can and will sic my spam filter  
on Mr Fears if he doesn't stop posting instant and often boorish  
responses to almost every submission to this list. I wish he'd  
realize that this list is not his personal Rorshcach test. I know I  
have had a couple of thoughts of posting lately that I abandoned  
because I didn't want my remarks treated as if they were fodder for  
"Ask David Fears."

No matter how you spin it, you are not a martyr or a victim, Mr  
Fears. What you are is one member of a forum full of people who are  
very knowledgeable about Mark Twain. It is a forum that is bleeding  
members ever since you have begun posting far more often than any  
other member. As any good teacher might say, "Let's give some of the  
others a chance."

Barry Crimmins


> Chadwick

On Mar 20, 2008, at 4:01 PM, Larry Howe wrote:

> Jocelyn--
>
> I'm sorry to read that you're leaving the forum.  Although I  
> understand and
> have felt similarly at different points, I urge you to reconsider.   
> In the
> spirit of an historic speech given just a couple of days ago, I ask  
> you to
> maintain an association with a group that has merit despite the  
> wrongheaded
> remarks of a vocal inividual. I appeal to you in part out of  
> selfishness: if
> sensible people leave, there will be little reason for other  
> sensible ones
> to stay and others to join.
>
> It is, of course, frustrating to have a particularly stubborn  
> member not
> learn from repeated calls to show some sensitivity.  I take this  
> opportunity
> to point out to David Fears that his activity on the forum is having a
> deleterious effect.  I would encourage you, Fears, to grow up  
> (resist your
> adolescent inclination to reply with lame wit), apologize for your  
> mistakes,
> and be considerate in subsequent posts.  If you cannot do this,  
> then I would
> call on the list administrator to do something about it.  If either  
> of these
> conditions are not met, the list faces the likelihood of  
> abandonment from
> other intelligent, mature voices like Jocelyn Chadwick's.
>
> --LH
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jocelyn
> Chadwick
> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 2:03 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Mark Twain quote?
>
> I have been a member of this forum for longer than I can really  
> remember and
> have learned from, contributed to, and read with enthusiasm  
> comments from
> this group. I am so sorry that today, I will ask to be removed. I  
> am making
> this request publicly and with much sorrow in my heart and in my  
> soul. When
> I read the quote yesterday, I actually wondered whether anyone  
> othen than
> the usuals would respond.
>
>   I thank you all for the wonderful conversations, but I cannot,  
> will not
> abide any sort of insensitivity on a forum from which I have always  
> expected
> substantive conversation, scholarship, and yes, disputation, but  
> without
> wreckless remarks for no apparent reason other than one can.
>
>   Mr Fears, you have caused me to do something that I never thought  
> I would
> do--leave a forum I have so loved and admired for so long.
>
>   Jocelyn A. Chadwick
>
> David H Fears <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>   Isn't it interesting that those who lie here waiting in attack  
> mode for
> terms they *perceive* as pejorative respond by using terms such as  
> "troll"
> and
> "fossil" in ways which are undeniably pejorative. Such abuse can  
> only limit
> contributions to this forum.
>
> David H Fears
>
>
>
> **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video  
> on AOL
> Home.
> (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15? 
> ncid=aolhom0
> 0030000000001)
>