Dear all: 


Great reflections on this thread. We're all very lucky to have the Elmira conference, for sure. 


I just want to recommend that EVERYBODY take a listen to the "Old Voices: Lectures from the Past" cd that came in our conference packet. It's amazing! What a treat to be able to put voices to some of the luminaries of Mark Twain Studies: Hill, Tuckey, Smith, Emerson, Baetzhold, etc, etc. 


But if you only have time for one, you MUST listen to James Cox's lecture--it is absolutely hilarious! 


Thanks to Tim Morgan for all the hours spent transferring those tapes! 


Best, 
Joe Csicsila 
----- Original Message -----

From: "Loren Ghiglione" <[log in to unmask]> 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 10:27:06 AM 
Subject: Re: Random thoughts on a Whirlwind conference . . . . Elmira 2013 

Dear Hal, 
As a first-timer who is, I confess, not a Twain scholar, I was incredibly m= 
oved by the spirit as well as substance of the conference. After I gave my= 
presentation on a trip I had taken around America following the path of Tw= 
ain as a young man, one attendee offered me the name of his literary agent = 
(I'm writing a book about the trip), another told me about events happening= 
in downtown Elmira that allowed me to interview people I had missed on my = 
earlier Twain-trip visit to Elmira. Barb and Christy saved my from myself = 
(I am a technological troglodyte) by providing a flash drive for my present= 
ation. And a campus police officer cheerfully unlocked my dorm-room door w= 
hen I managed to lock myself out. I loved the diversity of the conference-= 
-international panelists, book collectors, a medical doctor, lawyers, docum= 
entary makers. Thanks to all. I'll be back...and in Hannibal in two years= 
. By the way, in an earlier life I served as a university dean. Translati= 
on: I spent most of my time begging for money. One way of expressing our a= 
ppreciation for the work of Barb & Company is to make a donation to the Cen= 
ter. Best, Loren =20 

________________________________________ 
From: Mark Twain Forum [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Hal Bush [bushhk@SLU= 
.EDU] 
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 8:18 AM 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Subject: Random thoughts on a Whirlwind conference . . . . Elmira 2013 

I invite all participants to record here you initial thoughts about Elmira 
2013... as a mean of processing our collective experience. For me: 

--Many thanks to Barb and all the staff for a great event. 

--I'm blown away by the vigor and commitment of the Japanese Twain 
community. Many of them traveled up to 18 hours or more to be in NY for 
the show. My thanks for their diligence and contributions to the fine 
program. In addition: I felt like the memorial for Prof. Nagawara (whom I 
called the Henry Nash Smith of Twain studies in Japan and mentor to many of 
our colleagues) was one of the poignant highlights of our gathering. 
Nagawara-sensei's story is compelling: he miraculously survived the 
Hiroshima attack, in which many in his immediate family were killed, and 
yet went on to become an advocate and huge fan of one of our great American 
authors. What an amazing life! 

--Sunset on the porch at Quarry Farm on Saturday =3D priceless. 

--Mainly, it's about seeing old friends; but that's just me. (There were 
some good papers, too!) 

Cheers (and Otsukare-sama deshita!), --Hal B. 



-- 
Prof. Harold K. Bush 
Professor of English 
3800 Lindell 
Saint Louis University 
St. Louis, MO 63108 
314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) 
<www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>=