Hi,

Sorry I am late to this thread, but I had several other conferences after the Elmira Twain one and then lost track of time.
I actually had to leave on sat at lunch, to go home pack in 1 hours and 30 min and get husband and go to the airport for a conference in Utah.
I was sad to have to miss the quarry farm traditions :(

I enjoyed seeing my friends at the conference, had my usual fun of getting people to sign my books, thanks!

Had a wonderful time hanging out with my Japanese friends.
I hope to attend one of their conferences in Japan in a couple of years.
They asked me to make and take to them a Twain doll, which I will also make Olivia to go with him.

Which reminds me, a little history about the doll that I have.
I made him in 1982 (his eyebrows and mustache are cuttings from my hair) when I was one of the 1st Mark Twain ambassadors, and worked the Mark Twain exhibit on campus in the theater building.
Dr WIsbey hated the doll, but I kept it there to keep me company when there were no visitors.  I worked the exhibit while in college there for 3 summers.  Later I helped to start the 1st Twain conference and either helped or attended each one.   It's been fun watching the conference change and evolve. :)

I also attended all but about 5 (including tonight) of the trouble begins at 8. (I have a cold and am not feeling well).
I was the one who pushed the button on the cassette player to record all the lectures and flipped the tape, because they did not make them long enough for the lectures on 1 side.  It is awesome that Tim got a few of them onto a CD for us, but if it had not been for me, doing my part before Tim, there might not have been as many recorded trouble begins at 8. :)

Thanks for the fun times there!

Now I have to end here and go finish working on preparing for my panel at RMMLA in WA in Oct.

Yours in Twain,
Jules



-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joseph Csicsila
Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2013 12:02 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Random thoughts on a Whirlwind conference . . . . Elmira 2013

Dear all: 


Great reflections on this thread. We're all very lucky to have the Elmira conference, for sure. 


I just want to recommend that EVERYBODY take a listen to the "Old Voices: Lectures from the Past" cd that came in our conference packet. It's amazing! What a treat to be able to put voices to some of the luminaries of Mark Twain Studies: Hill, Tuckey, Smith, Emerson, Baetzhold, etc, etc. 


But if you only have time for one, you MUST listen to James Cox's lecture--it is absolutely hilarious! 


Thanks to Tim Morgan for all the hours spent transferring those tapes! 


Best,
Joe Csicsila
----- Original Message -----

From: "Loren Ghiglione" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 10:27:06 AM
Subject: Re: Random thoughts on a Whirlwind conference . . . . Elmira 2013 

Dear Hal,
As a first-timer who is, I confess, not a Twain scholar, I was incredibly m= oved by the spirit as well as substance of the conference. After I gave my= presentation on a trip I had taken around America following the path of Tw= ain as a young man, one attendee offered me the name of his literary agent = (I'm writing a book about the trip), another told me about events happening= in downtown Elmira that allowed me to interview people I had missed on my = earlier Twain-trip visit to Elmira. Barb and Christy saved my from myself = (I am a technological troglodyte) by providing a flash drive for my present= ation. And a campus police officer cheerfully unlocked my dorm-room door w= hen I managed to lock myself out. I loved the diversity of the conference-= -international panelists, book collectors, a medical doctor, lawyers, docum= entary makers. Thanks to all. I'll be back...and in Hannibal in two years= . By the way, in an earlier life I served as a university dean. Translati=
on: I spent most of my time begging for money. One way of expressing our a= ppreciation for the work of Barb & Company is to make a donation to the Cen= ter. Best, Loren =20 

________________________________________
From: Mark Twain Forum [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Hal Bush [bushhk@SLU= .EDU]
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 8:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Random thoughts on a Whirlwind conference . . . . Elmira 2013 

I invite all participants to record here you initial thoughts about Elmira 2013... as a mean of processing our collective experience. For me: 

--Many thanks to Barb and all the staff for a great event. 

--I'm blown away by the vigor and commitment of the Japanese Twain community. Many of them traveled up to 18 hours or more to be in NY for the show. My thanks for their diligence and contributions to the fine program. In addition: I felt like the memorial for Prof. Nagawara (whom I called the Henry Nash Smith of Twain studies in Japan and mentor to many of our colleagues) was one of the poignant highlights of our gathering. 
Nagawara-sensei's story is compelling: he miraculously survived the Hiroshima attack, in which many in his immediate family were killed, and yet went on to become an advocate and huge fan of one of our great American authors. What an amazing life! 

--Sunset on the porch at Quarry Farm on Saturday =3D priceless. 

--Mainly, it's about seeing old friends; but that's just me. (There were some good papers, too!) 

Cheers (and Otsukare-sama deshita!), --Hal B. 



--
Prof. Harold K. Bush
Professor of English
3800 Lindell
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO 63108
314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h)
<www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>=