Folks;
I did see the entire 4-hour film of "Mark Twain" by Ken Burns et al. It
is rather spectacular in terms of emotional effect, in my opinion.
Burns certainly knows how to put on a great show and dazzle the viewer.
In addition I felt like the film was fairly accurate throughout and
recognizes the genius, the difficulties, and so on
One of the little disappointments was the very thin coverage of Twain's
friendships. It will surely come as no surprise that I disdained the
complete neglect of Joe Twichell; but also, very little on Howells,
only one mention of Bret Harte's name, no mention of Cable, or
DeQuille; of them all, only Henry Rogers got much of anything, and that
only about 30 seconds.
By way of contrast, there is a stupendous amount of time given to the
family, and the coverage of the deaths of Susy and Livy, as well as
Henry and Langdon, is moving. coverage of slavery and esp. Mary Ann
Cord is splendid. I found myself moved to tears ( I am not ashamed to
say) on numerous occasions!
It shows on PBS on Jan. 14 & 15.
best,
Hal Bush
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 09:04:01 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Ken Burns's Mark Twain
Comments: cc: "Ms. Barbara R Schmidt" <[log in to unmask]>
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Many thanks to Hal Bush for sharing his impressions of Burns'
full length documentary scheduled for national broadcast in January.
Another critique of Burns' film which addresses some of its
shortcomings appears online today in the Hannibal Courier
Post in an article written by Forum member Terrell Dempsey.
The article is online at:
http://www.hannibal.net/stories/111501/opi_1115010003.shtml
A related story involving history of slavery in Hannibal is
also online today at:
http://www.msnbc.com/local/WGEM/M115662.asp?cp1=1
Barb
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 08:55:59 -0800
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Elinor <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: article by Terrell Dempsey
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Thanks to Terrell Dempsey for telling us about Mark Twain's years in
Hannibal, nothing like hearing it from the horse's mouth! I thought, like
Ken Burns, that MT had started his apprenticeship at Orion's paper. I will
add Terrell's article to my file to counteract the faulty information I have
there.
Elinor Reiss
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 19:15:34 -0600
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Book Review: Burns, Duncan & Ward, _Mark Twain,
An Illustrated Biography_
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I am posting the following book review on behalf of Dave Thomson who wrote
it.
-Barb
~~~~~
BOOK REVIEW
Burns, Ken, Dayton Duncan and Geoffrey C. Ward. _Mark Twain, An Illustrated
Biography_. Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. Pp. 270, 275 illustrations. Hardcover,
$40.00. ISBN 0-375-40561-5.
Many books reviewed on the Forum are available at discounted prices from
the TwainWeb Bookstore, and purchases from this site generate commissions
that benefit the Mark Twain Project.
Please visit <http://www.yorku.ca/twainweb>.
Reviewed for the Mark Twain Forum by:
David Thomson
<[log in to unmask]>
Copyright (c) 2001 Mark Twain Forum. This review may not be published or
redistributed in any medium without permission.
Upon receiving my review copy of _Mark Twain, An Illustrated Biography_ I
was surprised that it was such a slim volume, only about three quarters of
an inch thick. After reading Jim Zwick's interview earlier this month with
Dayton Duncan, one of the book's co-writers and co-producer of the upcoming
companion four-hour documentary (scheduled to air January 14 and 15, 2002),
I understood why this was not a thicker volume. The original film ran over
six hours. However, none of the other Ken Burns biographical documentaries
had exceeded four hours and they decided this one should be edited down to
the prescribed length. It does seem a shame that the film was abbreviated
but the producers certainly won't outstay their welcome this way. They're
leaving us begging for more.
Ashbel Green is credited as the editor of the text which was apparently
expanded considerably from the narrative of the film and suggests that the
book was indeed based, at least in part, on the longer version of the film.
Reports from those who have seen the film in its entirety noted the absence
or neglect of events and personalities such as Joseph Twichell, Bret Harte,
William Dean Howells, and others who seem to be given more attention in the
book.
Book designer Wendy Byrne worked with a wealth of marvelous images. Of the
275 illustrations, about 180 of them are photographs coming from the files
of the Mark Twain Papers at Berkeley (including the Isabel Lyon and Jean
Clemens photo collections), Mark Twain House at Hartford, Mark Twain Museum
at Hannibal, and private collections such as those of Nick Karanovich and
Robert Slotta. Some of these photos I've never seen reproduced elsewhere;
other have been, but never with such fidelity and clarity. They are truly
worth the price of admission. Among the standouts are:
An early 1850's portrait of Sam Clemens, the journeyman printer, is vividly
alive and his eyes were seldom so well illuminated and his expression is
still powerful a century and a half later (p. 14).
The 1858 portrait of Clemens as a steamboat pilot with mutton chop whiskers
is finally seen as a photograph rather than a graphic derivation (p. 26).
The 1864 portrait of Clemens standing between two cohorts in Nevada depicts
his mustache in an early stage of development and his wardrobe
picturesquely careless (p. 35).
The 1867 group portrait aboard the Quaker City shows a glimpse of Clemens
hunkered down amidst the Innocents Abroad pilgrims (p. 62).
In 1895 Clemens' round the world lecture tour yielded some marvelous candid
photographs taken in such places as Great Falls, Montana; Seattle,
Washington; and Olympia, Washington where Clemens is captured breakfasting
informally in his hotel room (pp. 160-166).
In 1904 Clemens returned to America aboard the Prince Oscar following the
death of Livy in Florence, Italy. Clemens is captured in a rare photo
aboard ship as he sits with his daughter Clara who is heavily veiled in
mourning with sleeping cats stretched out in her lap (p. 219).
Four marvelous candid shots from 1908 show Clemens playing with his
favorite cat Tammany and her kittens at Stormfield (pp. 210-211).
Two 1908 color photos by Alvin Langdon Coburn are reproduced as mirror
images of the originals, by accident or perhaps for the sake of page
layout. Clemens in his Oxford robes (p. 241) has appeared correctly in a
catalogue for a 1979 National Portrait Gallery show called "People in
Camera." A brilliant color photo of Clemens in his crimson bed robe with
pipe and book was reproduced correctly as the frontispiece for Archibald
Henderson's _Mark Twain_, (Duckworth & Co., 1911).
Among all the illustrations contemporary to Clemens' lifetime only seven
stood out as anachronisms: five illustrations by Norman Rockwell for the
1936 Heritage press editions of Tom and Huck--three from _Tom Sawyer__and
two from _Huckleberry Finn_. Two additional bits of whimsy appearing in the
index pages include a 1913 advertisement for Cream of Wheat featuring Tom,
Huck and Aunt Polly and a 1959 Polish movie poster for David O. Selznick's
_The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_.
The prologue providing the springboard for the narrative unfolds during
Clemens' 1902 visit to his boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri where, thanks
to reporter Robertus Love, we know details of that final visit and the
waves of aching nostalgia that washed over the celebrated Mark Twain at the
scenes of his youth.
Through thirteen subsequent chapters Sammy Clemens evolves into Mark Twain
and not surprisingly some of the chapters choose book titles to encompass
their contents: _Life on the Mississippi_, _Roughing It_, _The Innocents
Abroad_, _The Gilded Age_, _A Connecticut Yankee_ and _Following the
Equator_.
Four essays by Mark Twain scholars are distributed throughout the chapters:
Chapter One "A Boy's Paradise" (Sam's childhood in Missouri) includes
"Hannibal's Sam Clemens" by Hannibal native Ron Powers in which he distills
the essence of his book _Dangerous Waters: A Biography of the Boy who
Became Mark Twain_ (Basic Books. 1999).
Chapter Five "The Best Girl in All the World" (Clemens' Courtship and
marriage to Olivia Langdon) includes "Hartford's Mark Twain" which is
elucidated by John Boyer.
_Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ is examined in two essays "The Six-Letter
Word" by Jocelyn Chadwick, contained in Chapter Seven and "Out at the
Edges" in Chapter Twelve by Russell Banks. Both delve into the issue of
race and the enduring power of the novel.
Chapter Seven titled "Truth" is about the writing and publication of
_Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, the importance of which Dayton Duncan
emphasized in his recent interview with Jim Zwick: "...we probably wouldn't
have done this film if Twain hadn't written _Huckleberry Finn_...it's that
book that secured his place in American literature."
The book finds its emotional center in the powerful story of Sam and Livy's
relationship and the joys and sorrows of the couple and their daughters
Susy, Clara and Jean. The sheer weight of the pathos of that real-life
human drama gives it an emphasis that manages to eclipse even the history
of Clemens' literary career in importance.
Scattered throughout the book are seventeen extended excerpts from Clemens'
writings including "white town drowsing" and "the profession of piloting"
from _Life on the Mississippi_. Other vignettes include the petrified man
hoax, San Francisco earthquakes, Clemens' letter to his daughters as Santa
Claus, quotations from the diaries of Adam and Eve, "The War Prayer" and
part of Mark Twain's 70th birthday speech. There are also a series of
"sidebars" or "asides" along the way addressing subjects such as Clemens'
fascination with inventions, the treatment of the Negro in America, his
love of cats and even a disclaimer "Mark Twain Didn't Say" which lists
sayings attributed to him which are unverifiable.
An interview with Hal Holbrook delineates the differences between the
actual platform style of Mark Twain and Holbrook's variations on that
original format. Clemens dressed in black, Holbrook in white. Clemens did
not smoke on stage during his career, Holbrook puffs up clouds of cigar
smoke during his performance. Holbrook points out that the public image of
the rather lazy, drawling "Mark Twain" concealed an extremely energetic man
who admitted that "I was born excited (p. 182)." Holbrook also recognized
that Clemens was "a soul seeking the truth...that's a lonely journey."
Holbrook described his connection with Clemens: "It's like somebody
reaching his hand out to you in comradeship, almost."
The style of the book, for the greater part, is to allow Clemens to tell
his own story via his own words found in his books, personal letters and
journals. As Dayton Duncan commented about the companion film, "Twain's
voice nearly always prevailed." The same holds true for the book. The one
disappointment for Twain scholars may be the lack of reference notes
indicating sources of texts and quotes used for many passages.
_Mark Twain, An Illustrated Biography_ is certainly the most handsomely
produced pictorial treatment thus far given to Samuel Clemens and should
not only please veteran aficionados as a feast for the eyes, but also bring
a whole new flock of converts into the fold and intrigue them to dive into
his writings as well as other specialized biographical studies which expand
on topics that are introduced here.
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 19:41:42 EST
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Book Review: Burns, Duncan & Ward, _Mark Twain,
An Illustrated Biography_
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Fellow Twaniacs --
Thanks, Barb, for posting that very perceptive and well-written review!
I've just finished writing my own, and indeed Thomson nails it, as a
thing of beauty for those of us fortunate enough to have already discovered
the vast depths and eternal freshness of Sam's work, and as a wonderful way
to lure the uninitiated to the man H.L. Mencken called "the greatest writer
of the American language."
I also have the CD, which is very nice, and makes you wonder had John
Hartford not been so sick when work began on the project if he'd have been
included. It would have made a good thing even better.
Since Burns is coming to my neck of the woods Monday to chat up the
local
Chamber of Commerce, I'm hoping to get the chance to ask him directly why
the
film was cut from 6 hours to 4. I'll post his response.
Kathy O'Connell
Record-Journal
Meriden, Conn.
P.S. those of you with acquaintances at Knopf should try to get your hands
on
one of the posters. The manager of our terrific (and independent! Yay!)
bookstore saved one for me. It's lovely, and at the framer's as we speak.
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 11:23:33 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Ballard, Terry Prof." <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Ken Burns's Mark Twain
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Somebody just handed me a copy of the Hartford Courant from last Sunday,
with a nice article on the project. Still available on the web at:
http://www.ctnow.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-burnscommentarysunnov11.artn
ov11.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dcommentary
Terry Ballard
Quinnipiac University
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 16:40:48 -0600
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "D. Terrell Dempsey" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: "I am THE American." No, not really.
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Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on the forum. Please take the time to
check out the two following sites for some important Clemens news. It
seems that "I am not an American. I am the American." which is
prominently included on the cover the new Duncan/Burns cd and is a line
they have been touting at press gatherings is not a Clemens saying. It
also is clearly not Clemens referring to himself as Duncan/Burns state.
I have also included below my understanding of the manner in which this
saying made the transition from a comment made by Frank Fuller and
recorded by Sam in 1897 to being a fullfledged Twainism in 2001. This
sure drives home the importance of checking our facts and consulting
original sources wherever possible. Be sure to check out the following
web sites:
Jim Zwick's incredible asset is at:
http://www.boondocksnet.com/twaintexts/quotes_not_twain.html
Barb Schmidt's wonderful site:
http://www.twainquotes.com/American.html
Here is the story of how this saying made the transition to a Twain
truism and marketing slogan:
It isn't that Clemens didn't write those words, it's just that he didn't
write them about himself. They appear in Notebook 41, kept from January
through June 1897, the relevant part while he was in Weggis,
Switzerland.
Here's the entire notebook entry:
Fuller--"I'm not going to stay in this hotel, it is not
safe. I saw suspicious men around; I think they are after my Waterbury."
"Are you an American?"
"No. I am not an American. I am the American."
There are a half dozen other entries in the same notebook attributed to
Fuller, who is clearly his wide-eyed optimist friend Frank Fuller. In a
list of anecdotes: "Fuller buying Waterbury watch" (33). Or, on page 50,
"Fuller can't get the face restored to his Waterbury because they won't
give him a deposit as security." Or, on page 38:
Frank Fuller, in a car or lobby will allow a lot of strangers to get
deep
into a harsh criticism of some public man or some man who has been
printing
something, then presently he begins to blush & look embarrassed--an
awful
silence, & they get embarrassed & begin to take back or modify what they
have said. Finally somebody actually apologizes to him; he looks
surprised,
says he is not that man, but was blushing about something he had
experienced years ago.
Or on page 53: "Fuller, imploringly, to whole dining-room of strangers,
'If you please, don't make so much noise when I am trying to eat.'"
So I'd say it was clear that this boasting speech about being "the
American" cannot safely be attributed to Mark Twain in his own person,
but
is rather something he imagines in Frank Fuller's mouth, a way of
characterizing a certain kind of boasting American. Just a few pages
earlier he has this entry: "Both kinds of Ameri--the most engaging & the
most offensive."
We do know a little bit about how the Duncan/Burns version got started,
and
really they are scarecly to blame. John Lauber in his The Inventions of
Mark Twain: A Biography (1990), says on page 287:
He luxuriated in his own celebrity, seeing himself as a kind of
unofficial
ambassador to the world, an embodiment of his country
and culture. He wrote a brief dialogue in his notebook:
"Are you an American?
No. I am not an American. I am the American."
No citation given, and no copyright notice pubished (no permission given
either--but that's no matter).
Then Lou Budd's essay, "Mark Twain as an American Icon," in The
Cambridge
Companion to Mark Twain (1995), p. 13, picks it up: ". . . he didn't
hold
an insistent pitch until the late 1890s, when he jotted (presumably
thinking of himself): 'Are you an American? No, I am not an American. I
am
the American." His citation is to Lauber.
Then Shelley Fishkin picks up Lou's reference and writes simply: "'Are
you
an American?' Twain once jotted in his notebook: 'No, I am not an
American.
I am the American." Citation is to Budd.
And that's how we wind up with the now unstoppable "fact" that Mark
Twain
said "I am not an American. I am the American." Something he simply did
not
believe about himself, let alone say about himself.
Many thanks to Barb Schmidt, the human dynamo of Twain and Clemens
research. Many thanks to Jim Zwick, great friend of scholars, Twainiacs
and Sam himself. God bless everyone and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I am attaching a jpeg with the copy of the page from Notebook 41. If it
doesn't come through on the forum please contact me directly and I'll
e-mail copies during writing breaks.
Terrell
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 01:11:27 +0100
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: richard <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Thanks a bunch, Gregg!
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Happy MT birthday to all! We're doing an evening of Twain and Polish
poet/dramatist Julian Tuwim on Thursday night here in Lodz, at a
restaurant/kawiarna called 'Ciagoty i Tesknoty' ("intense/irrational
longing and remembering"). All bilingual Polish and English--a day
early, but Thursdays are particularly devoted to literature and music in
Poland, by tradition.
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 09:22:32 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Twain in the news
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The NBC affiliate at Quincy, Illinois has a story online today
regarding recent controversies in the Ken Burns' video production.
Text of the story is online at:
http://www.msnbc.com/local/WGEM/M120067.asp
For those with RealPlayer, a video of the newscast is available
for the next few days at:
http://www.wgem.com/video/vidmain.htm
Click on 6pm and Tuesday for the correct newscast. It's the first story
after the first commercial break.
In other developments, a web site at:
http://www.broadwaymasterworks.com/bway/
announces that First Lady Laura Bush will be focusing on Mark
Twain in a gala scheduled tomorrow night, November 29 at the
White House. It may be worthwhile watching national news
broadcasts tomorrow night.
Barb
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 23:51:40 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Robert Slotta <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Mark Twain celebrations -- 166th birthday & Thank You to The
First Lady!
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Every time Mark Twain celebrates a birthday it is something special to those
who admire him. Today is no different, but even amplified. For the first
time I can remember it is the very first time the White House has officially
celebrated Mark Twain's birthday (and a day early to boot!). Our First Lady
deserves special recognition for doing so!!!
I heartily congratulate the Mark Twain scholars & others who were invited by
the First Lady to The White House, and personally invite them to share their
experience(s) with us on this forum!
Here are some links (which will hopefully work) of the reported festivities:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011129/en/tribute.reading_reading_1.html
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011030/en/review-stageriver_1.html
http://daileynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011129/en/pl/mrs_bush_twain.1.html
Long Live Mark Twain (with the hope he is properly understood and
quoted )
Twainiacally Yours,
Bob Slotta
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 04:11:12 EST
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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Dear Fellow Twaniacs,
In Ken Burns' defense, throughout his career he's mostly relied on
scholars, historians and biographers for the information that goes into his
work. He trusts their knowledge; those who got it wrong in the first place
should be the sore point, not he.
He's not a historian or a scholar, and has never claimed to be. He's an
enthusiast, with great talent as a filmmaker, to pass along that enthusiasm.
That, I think, is more important in the long run.
Just tonight, for example, the Associated Press had a story on the White
House whoop-de-doo in which Mrs. Bush is quoted as saying her husband's
favorite Twain quote is "Do the right thing. It will gratify a few and amaze
the rest."
The correct quote is: "Always do right. This will gratify some people,
and astonish the rest."
I rest my case. What matters is that Ken's film, which I've not yet
seen,
could draw more people to Twain than ever before. That would be wonderful.
I'm no fan of sloppy scholarship, but sometimes I wonder if those who
are
fond of picking nits carry around their own supply. It's one thing to get
facts wrong. It's another, however, to use the wrong word. We all know what
Sam said about that.
There will always be people who notice an I missing a dot or an
uncrossed
T. In copy editing, they really do matter; in the long run, I believe, they
don't.
Sam belongs to all of us. Let's be generous with him. Especially with
someone so obviously devoted to him.
Happy birthday, Sam!
Kathy O'Connell
Record-Journal
Meriden, Conn.
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 08:53:17 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Kevin J. Bochynski" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: More information on Mark Twain White House symposium
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For more information about the Mark Twain symposium at the White House =
yesterday, see this press release:
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/nv/features/chadwick11292001.html
C-SPAN is scheduled to broadcast video of the event on Saturday, =
December 1 at 8 p.m. (eastern).
Kevin B.
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 09:10:43 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Ballard, Terry Prof." <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Birthday bouquet
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I'm throwing in my two cents worth here by adding a website of Twain
pilgrimages - a collection of photos taken in Virginia City, Hannibal,
Elmira, Hartford and Tedworth Square in London. In a few days, I will be
adding some shots from Peter Salwen's excellent walking tour of Twain sites
in New York. The page is at
http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/libraries/tballard/mtpilgrimages.htm .
Terry Ballard
Quinnipiac University
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 09:21:31 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Jason Horn <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Twain in the news
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Good point about Burns and scholarship. Yes, keeping Twain in
the cultural foreground is important. And even while Mrs. Bush
may have not quoted Twain exactly, she offered a darn good
paraphrase. I am sure many of us attempt to do the same quite
often--and even occasionally misfire. Perhaps we could approach
Burn's project as a major cinematic paraphrase.
Jason G. Horn
Gordon College
Barnesville, Georgia
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 11:30:43 -0500
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: "Barry F. Crimmins" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Burns
In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
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Because of Ken Burns they retired the wrong number for Jackie Robinson in
Montreal. His baseball series made more errors than the '62 Mets. Even
casual fans spotted inaccuracies in each of the series' nine parts.
Sportscaster Keith Oberman kept careful track and reported in detail. It
was amazing just how much Burns got wrong.
This year jazz enthusiasts were enraged by Burns's extremely flawed "Jazz"
series, which may have been better titled "When you can get Winton Marsalis
to discuss Louis Armstrong why bother talking to his band?" For more on
this a note I received from my friend, jazz producer Tom Duffy is pasted
below.
I dare say many Twain devotees and scholars will find and discuss problems
with Burns' Twain special. This will happen regardless of any semantic
blanket amnesty that is proposed. Burns has the budget and the wherewithal
to get it right. If he fails to do so, he's fair game. If this series is
inaccurate, the inaccuracies will become "fact" unless they are refuted.
And forgive me for not fawning over Twain being co-opted by a White House
that has declared all out war on our civil liberties. Somehow I doubt he'd
have been a large supporter of Missouri's John Ashcroft, a man the Show Me
State deemed less worthy of office than his dead opponent in the last
election. A man who favors of integration -- of church and state.
Usually I remain silent in this forum but it's Sam's birthday and I can't
give a free pass to inaccurate pop culturists or cynical pols looking to
benefit from affiliation with Twain's distorted, Disneytraumatized legend.
Happy Birthday, Mark Twain, without your inspiration I'd probably always
fear to speak up.
Barry Crimmins
Note from Tom Duffy to Barry Crimmins concerning Burns "Jazz" series.
Reprinted with permission.
Well, it's over and none to soon as I was getting closer to kicking in my
television screen ... Perhaps, it lies in the editing room ... One thought
here is if Mr. Burns cut out two, maybe three hours of Wynton Marsalis, he
then would have time to mention, at least once, legends like Betty Carter,
Chet Baker, Pharoah Sanders, Weather Report ( a Beamonesque-jump from
Bitches Brew into fusion and the 80's without a mention of this seminal
group ) Gene Ammons, Pat Metheny. Eddie Jefferson, Gerald Wilson, Shirley
Scott, Richard "Groove" Holmes, George Shearing, J.J. Johnson, Keith
Jarrett, Stephane Grappelli & Django Rheinhart, McCoy Tyner, June Christy,
the entire Central Avenue Era, Kenny Clarke, Wardell Gray, among scores of
others ( including the brother pairings of the Adderley's, the Jones's (
three of them ), the Barron's... The short-lived group SuperSax, dedicated
to the music of Charlie Parker ... The World Saxophone Quartet ... The John
Coltrane Memorial Concert, who, in 2001, heads into year 24 ...
Also, spanning two programs in which Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers were
discussed and featured, the omission of one of the top tenor players in the
business today ( pick #1, #2 or #3 ) - Mr. Billy Pierce - was outrageous (
or perhaps, my history is fuzzy - did Mr. Marsalis, with all that Columbia
Records budget - as well as the rhythm section of Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter
and Tony Williams on that amazing-selling first album - single-handedly
resurrect Jazz in 1980? ) ...
Were all the contemporaries of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, as well as
those still around of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington unavailable or
out-of-town for the nearly six-years it took to make this film that they
couldn't have been used to offer insight and commentary on these legends?
All I can say is wait a few years and watch for all the Mark Twain scholars
bouncing off the walls ...
BeBop Lives!
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 11:24:06 EST
Reply-To: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Errol Craig Sull <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: A special Twain Birthday announcement!
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To all Twainiacs ...
As you may know, I have sponsored and coordinated the Annual Mark Twain
Birthday Party & Symposium for 8 years now, beginning in my class at Niagara
University with only 30 students and now up to several hundred in
attendance.
Some of you have sent me e-mails, asking about this year's Party &
Symposium. Well, I've made a major decision that will result in its
expansion in several areas, but also necessitated my postponing the 9th
Annual version until November 30th, 2002.
Beginning next year, the Annual Mark Twain Birthday Party & Symposium will
have a new home at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, located in
downtown Buffalo. Several factors led to this decision. First, the event
needed a larger hall in which to hold it, as I was limited by seating
capacity at Niagara. The Library has a wonderful theater / hall that seats
nearly 900, yet is configured in a way so that it remains intimate, with
good
sight everywhere.
Second, Buffalo is blessed to not only have my Twain event but the original
manuscript of H.F. (as well as many Twain- and H.F.-related materials)
housed
at the Library, and a new venture, The Mark Twain Museum of Buffalo. Rather
than keeping all apart, it makes more sense to "join forces."
Third, there is a much greater audience base from which to draw in the
Buffalo area. Next year's event will also include a special afternoon
program for children. Mike Randall -- for my money easily on par with Hal
Holbrook (and one time sued by him) -- will continue his excellent
impersonation role as Mark Twain, with additional Twain scholars from
around
Buffalo and throughout the United States.
Mark your calendar now: ONE YEAR FROM TODAY, November 30th, 2002: the 9th
Annual Mark Twain Birthday Party & Symposium! You will not want to miss it!
Errol Craig Sull
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 21:30:28 -0500
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
Sender: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From: Jim Zwick <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: CFP: Mark Twain Papers experiences
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In December and April of every year since 1997, I have run appeals for
donations to the Mark Twain Project at my Twain site
(http://www.boondocksnet.com/twainwww/). The site gets very heavy traffic
and these have been relatively successful in the past (at least they've been
read by a lot of people). With the increased attention that will be paid to
Twain in the next few months, I'd like to organize a more concerted effort
that will be prominently featured at the site from December through April,
and then kept online indefinitely as a year-round resource tied to a page
with information about how to make donations.
What I'd like to do is put together a collection of short (1000-1500 words,
but longer would also be fine) experience-based articles on the value of the
Mark Twain Papers and Project to researchers and teachers that will get
across why it is important to support preservation and publication of the
Mark Twain Papers. They might highlight some aspect of what we wouldn't
have without access to the resources there and the editions they've
published.
At least initially, they will be housed in a special site at
BoondocksNet.com
that will not have any advertising except perhaps Amazon.com links done
like the Forum's so the proceeds will go to the Project. If Bancroft
decides
down the road that it would like to host the collection or do something else
with it, I would certainly be happy to let them but participation in that
would
be up to individual contributors. All contributors will retain copyright in
their
articles and those will be indicated at the top of the page under the title
and
author's name.
I think a series of articles by scholars who have worked in the Mark Twain
Papers will help to educate the public about the nature of the collection
and
why it should be supported. Beyond that, I expect that these will also be
interesting as articles on the experience of doing archival research in the
collection and how that research is used or made public. For my part, I'm
thinking of writing something on the value of having both original
manuscripts and photocopies of materials held elsewhere in one place,
using the photocopies from the E. D. Morel Papers (originals in England)
and the typescript of "A Defence of General Funston" (original in
Philadelphia) as examples. I'm sure just about everyone who has spent time
using the collection will have examples from their own research that could
be
used to highlight some aspect of the collection and how it has contributed
to
our knowledge of Mark Twain.
Articles on the editions might highlight the value and uses of a specific
book
or series (e.g. Letters, Notebooks, The Mark Twain Libary), or perhaps
something we're still waiting for that we wont see without continued
funding.
If you would like to contribute an article to this site, please drop me a
note
so I'll have an idea of how many articles to expect as I get started on site
design. Articles can follow through December or January, but the sooner
the better. Once I have some in hand, I'll probably start to post them as
they
come in.
I can probably convert just about any word processor format, but the
standards I work with all the time are WordPerfect and MS Word format. If
you can send articles as email attachments in either of those formats it
would be easiest. Illustrations can also be included with articles and can
be
sent as email attachments as well.
Thanks in advance.
Jim Zwick