On behalf of no one but myself, I wish to be among the first to extend
heartfelt thanks to Gretchen, Nina, and the rest of the Elmira College
community for all their work that paid off with such rich fruit the past
four days.  We left today after being spoiled rotten, fed like oil-baron
royalty, and with our cups overflowing with thoughts, memories,
inspirations, and stories to tell down the road for (4) years to come.

It was great to hug old friends; it was equally great to meet new members of
the Twain asylum. (That being the best collective noun we could come up with
for ourselves.)  I was particularly glad to meet young scholars presenting
their early papers as well as the student assistants who helped out so much
with the hospitality of the college. With luck, they won't be allowed to
graduate so they'll be around to share their enthusiasm again four years
hence.

As usual, this morning a group of diehards reluctantly turned in our dorm
keys at Tompkins Hall and kept the camaraderie going a few more hours after
we'd slept off the grand finale.  We didn't want to leave.  This means, of
course, we're already looking forward to the  next time around and hope
Gretchen will begin plans shortly. Take a well deserved rest, Elmira, and
we'll look forward to news about the next Twain gang extravaganza.