I remember feeling that way when I first came on the forum, too. I actually got into a dialogue with a person who seemed to write on and on about her thoughts and opinions with words the size of the planet (I think just to hear herself talk.) Anyhow, I no longer feel that way thanks to people like Kevin B. and others. I don't contribute much because I am far from a Mark Twain Scholar even though I live in Elmira where he wrote a lot of his best works, but I sure do enjoy the information and the discussions. I have a special file that I save a lot of this information in. Hope even the new people will not feel as I did at first. Sue Harris [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wesley Britton" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 2:05 PM Subject: newer Forum members > Judging from postings to me privately and on this Forum, I see a need to > address a more important matter than a long out-dated controversy. > > Several folks stated they now feel reluctant to post questions or make > comments in the light of the heavy-duty "war horses" responses to queries. > I deeply hope this doesn't happen. This issue has arisen before with some > old > types complaining about high school students asking for term paper help to > those who want no discussions at all and simply want to read scholarly > information. From time to time, lively discussions do erupt over any number > of matters, and no one should feel they are not welcome to pose questions or > contribute to the debate. Sure, some questions may have been asked before, > and repeatedly, and sometimes referring such questions to our Forum archives > is a good response. But I hope no non-academic or newbie to the profession > will ever pull back from honest questions or responses to them. Asking what > definitive books are out there was a perfectly valid question and resulted > in the most engaging discussion we've had in ages. Thanks for asking. > > And I thank those who observed that the central point John and I were trying > to make is that we were telling a general reader why we're cautious in the > books to recommend. Controversy will occur time and time again and there's > nothing wrong with that. We are, after all, the champions of HUCKLEBERRY > FINN. >