I enjoyed and emphatically agree with Kathy O'Connell's posting, but she struck one chord that disturbs me: > I'm not a Twain scholar by a long shot, just an ink-stained wretch who > has labored long in the Fourth Estate, always keeping in mind that Sam was a > newspaperman even before he took to learning how to pilot riverboats. We've lately heard the same tune several times, especially from our friend The Janitor. "I'm not a scholar, but..." One of the things I enjoy most about Twain Forum is the range of participants and slants. Yes, scholarly give-and-take often flares, as well it should. But there are also the members (whether scholars or not) who want to tell us that Twain was mentioned last night on some tv show, or who pass on news about Hal Holbrook, films, etc. Further, it seems to me that the scholars themselves are of many denominations--from the broadest Twainian generalists to people who seem wholly preoccupied with current debates over Huckleberry Finn; from those who dote on the Elmira gathering and such, to folks (like me) who would rather have both kneecaps broken than to fidget through an academic session. I'm distressed by the notion that those of us who lug around advanced degrees have in any way intimidated others. As Kathy hints, such a situation would be especially unfortunate (not to say ludicrous) in a group devoted to a man who was himself diverse, self-educated and anything but pedantic; and who rarely sought a select audience when he could snag a big one. Mark Coburn