I greatly appreciate the spirit of Arianne's remarks, but I should make it
clear that I am NOT the Forum's list administrator. That thankless job
belongs to my dear friend Kevin Bochynski, who has long been one of the most
selfless and generous people whom I've ever known. Without his patient and
unremunerated toil, the Mark Twain Forum would have died years ago.

At the risk of revealing too many confidences, I will say that keeping the
Forum going and dealing with complaints and demands have so worn out Kevin
that we are unlikely ever to see him again at a Mark Twain conference. The
word "bullying" has appeared frequently in recent Forum postings. If you
honestly think that a certain late, unlamented member of the Forum was being
"bullied," you have no idea of what the list administrator endures. (Anyone
remember the name Taylor Roberts or wonder why he is no longer the list
administrator?)

As one whose own work on Mark Twain owes many heavy debts to Kevin's
help--and as one who knows that many others owe Kevin similar debts--I can
attest that his loss to the field of Mark Twain studies would be one
thousand times greater than that of those who know more about taking than
giving.

Kent Rasmussen