Recipients of the Mark Twain Prize are not chosen because they or their 
humor replicates that of Mark Twain. It's not because they resemble Mark 
Twain (I'd rather go to bed with Tina Fey completely naked than with Mark 
Twain in his white suit)* It's not because they wear white suits or smoke 
cigars. It's a prize that recognizes that they are (famous) people who have 
influenced American humor in some important way. It does not mean they have 
influenced American humor as much as Mark Twain did or that Mark Twain even 
approve of what they do. The recipient must agree to accepting the prize and 
speaking at the ceremony, which could explain why some have not made the 
roster of recipients (and the producers of the show have the good grace not 
to reveal who those folks might be). I think the people who give the Mark 
Twain Prize have a statement somewhere that explains the criteria. I bet 
there's even a website!

They could have called it the Josh Billings Prize or the Henny Youngman 
Prize, or even the Herman Melville Prize, but then it would not make much 
sense ("You can call me Ishmael, or you can call me Ishy, or you can call me 
Ish. . ."). Nobody today is Mark Twain and Twain would not find all modern 
humor humorous. Mark Twain changed the nature and direction of American 
humor and it would be setting the bar absurdly high to demand that the Mark 
Twain Prize be given each year to somebody who has done the same. Nobody 
has.

I'm glad they call it the Mark Twain Prize. It reminds people of the debt 
American humor (and culture) owes to Mark Twain. Twain is our guy. All those 
Josh Billings, Henny Youngman, and Herman Melville people must fend for 
themselves and cope with their jealousy as best they can.

Full disclosure: I supply the Twain-related gift that is given to the 
recipient each year at the dinner before the ceremony. I make little or no 
money from this, and usually just break even for my time and trouble. I have 
attended one of the ceremonies (the show you see on TV is an edited version, 
as you might expect). The Eddie Murphy ceremony airs this evening, and I'll 
be watching.

*I'm stealing from Twain's famous remark, whispered in Howells's ear I 
think, about his preference for a sexy opera singer over General Grant in 
full uniform.

Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
9307 Glenlake Drive
Austin TX 78730
512-345-4139
Member: ABAA, ILAB
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-----Original Message----- 
From: DMD1937
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 4:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Twain Prize

I'm curious to know how list members view the Twain Prize.

Most Americans couldn't tell you when New Mexico and Arizona became =
states, let alone what motivated Twain's humor over many decades.

DMD


Denis M. Donovan, M.D., M.Ed., F.A.P.S.
Director, EOCT Institute

Medical Director, 1983 - 2006
The Children's Center for Developmental Psychiatry
St. Petersburg, Florida

P.O Box 47576
St. Petersburg, FL 33743-7576
Phone: 727-641-8905
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Please reply to: [log in to unmask]

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These are complex times, many fools around.

Alexandr Romanovich Luria in:
Goldberg, Elkhonon (2001). The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the =
Civilized Mind.
New York: Oxford University Press, p. 16.

Perhaps Goldberg should have listened to Luria . . .