I'm with you.  Each time they opt for the "new kid" or "name recognition",
they devalue the award until it will not be respected by the honoree, but
rather just another chance to put their political/environmental/social/
issue out there.  I did not even watch this year, but I can imagine Ms.
DeGeneres' idea of humor, hardly worthy of Mr. Twain's.

On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 7:12 PM, Harold Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Ellen DeGeneres.  really? ? ? ?
>
> Wow.  All due respect, but I'm wondering what some older folks like Carol
> Burnett must be feeling right about now.  Surprising choice, given folks
> like Letterman and Leno, or even Jon Stewart, have not gotten it yet....
>
> Political correctness aside, I'm a bit confused about all this....  who, if
> anyone in the "Twain scholarly community," are they consulting??  I DVR-ed
> the event, and it is funny; but Wow!
>
>  I recognize they are going for the ratings.  But I thought -- originally,
> with the awarding of the likes of Jonathan Winters and Carl Reiner, Bob
> Newhart and Lily Tomlin --  that it was meant to be some sort of lifetime
> achievement award.  And the picture of the white-suit Twain on the website
> seems to confirm this, along with the description of the award.
>
> But I feel bad for the likes of Carol Burnett, or even David Letterman, who
> reinvented the talk-show format.
>
> Every year we hash this out a bit -- and maybe I'll get slammed for this
> jeremiad -- but I just thought I would bring it up again and see if others
> had any response.
>
> -hb
>
> --
> Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
> Professor of English
> Saint Louis University
> St. Louis, MO  63108
> 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h)
> <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>
>