So glad to see the late, great Jean Shepherd 
honored in this way.

Those of us who grew up on the East Coast 
spellbound by his nightly radio monologues will 
share my appreciation.  He was a true American 
folk artist, and his medium was the spoken word.  
And being deeply steeped in vernacular Americana 
and deeply cynical about human nature, and 
prolific and creative, Shep was most deserving of 
this award.

Excelsior, you fathead.  Flick lives.

(Those latter two phrases will be meaningless to 
many, but to the Shep cognoscenti they are like 
the secret Masonic handshake).

-Steve Hoffman
Takoma Park MD

On 9/24/2011 9:59 AM, Barbara Schmidt wrote:
> The old American Lyceum Association, of which Mark Twain was a member,
> changed its name to International Platform Association in 1905.  Over
> the years  they have awarded numerous Mark Twain awards including
> awards to Jean Shepherd, Norman Lear, Phyllis Diller and others.  If
> you do a google search on:
>
> "International Platform Association" + "Mark Twain"
>
> you will get a number of hits on other award winners.
>
> Barb
>
>