It’s bigger than that—I think it’s safe to say that crackpotism thrives as a perpetual outlier on the fringe of virtually every element of every humanities discipline. For all I know, it’s as common in the sciences. It is the great irony of this situation that at intervals of utterly unpredictable duration one of those seemingly loony souls turns out to be just genius enough to make some new kind of sense and thus shake up a given discipline beyond all imagining. 

Perhaps that means we need them, but having dealt with a few in various disciplines over the years I still desperately want to believe that there must be an easier way forward.

Paul Schullery



> On Aug 27, 2019, at 11:20 AM, Dennis Eddings <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Well, if you really want to encounter crackpots, try the Poe Studies
> Association.
> dennis eddings
> 
> On Tue, Aug 27, 2019 at 9:06 AM Larry Howe <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> Well done.  Thank you to Matt and all of the thoughtful contributors.
>> 
>> --LH
>> 
>> Larry Howe
>> Professor of English & Film Studies
>> Department of Literature and Languages
>> Roosevelt University
>> Editor, Studies in American Humor
>> President, Mark Twain Circle of America
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ________________________________________
>> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Matthew Seybold <
>> [log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2019 8:42 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: On Henry Sweets
>> 
>> [Sent by an External User]
>> 
>> Many of you will be interested in these testimonials to Henry’s grand
>> legacy offered by some of your esteemed colleagues:
>> 
>> 
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__marktwainstudies.com_twain-2Dscholars-2Dcelebrate-2Dthe-2Dcareer-2Dof-2Dhenry-2Dsweets-2Ddirector-2Dof-2Dmark-2Dtwain-2Dboyhood-2Dhome-2Dmuseum_&d=DwIFaQ&c=a-IB_GMEfAZCNvTl5o6ZExYKmR-HZTqw1M_ZxQv8eiY&r=M7fe_5tVzFcSaDV_TGyMVieQKup7oSC-0rxoDyxcCJY&m=G6Vu8nTwG23KboqvFgE5I68Drw7AiH1eVtdBQlX5m5g&s=u2DROZ6EZ1w4FKrbfHuR8Gch5h36WSOEMGzGAFFhNCY&e=
>> 
>> ***************
>> Matt Seybold
>> Assistant Professor of American Literature & Mark Twain Studies
>> Elmira College
>> Editor, MarkTwainStudies.org
>> MattSeybold.com
>>