I second Terry Ballard's sentiments regarding the Mark Twain award, which just seems to perpetuate the perception of Twain as a "mere humorist." The recipients are all deserving of recognition for their comedic talents, no doubt about it, but these are, after all, mere humorists. To put this in proper perspective, but for Twain, how many of y'all out there would have any recall of Artemus Ward, Petroleum V. Nasby, Josh Billings or, my personal favorite, Orpheus C. Kerr (office-seeker)? Think about it. Martin Zehr Kansas City, Missouri