I just sent a copy of my posting to her at the address she was using on the Forum: camy <[log in to unmask]> I'm sure she'd appreciate other messages of encouragment. [Kevin...I hope it's OK to send her email address, since it's available to anyone who's saved their old emails.] Ben >Do you have Camy's e-mail address, by any chance? Now that you >mention it, I have noticed her absence. It seems to me that the >Forum should be open to all comers, at all levels of Twain >skowlarship and, after all, every one of us had a starting point. >Besides, as one of my favorite mentors asserts, "We're all bozos on >this bus," myself (especially) included. >MZ,KC,MO >-------------- Original message from Ron Owens ><[log in to unmask]>: -------------- > > >> I so would like Hal Bush's posting be the last word on this whole >> thing, but I feel the need to reveal one more incident in this whole >> talk of leaving the Forum. Do you all remember "Camy?" She is the >> blind woman whose passionate interest in Twain, and her questions, >> spurred some great discussion from many of you. She has a degree in >> literature, but she posed many questions because she cannot use search >> tools as easily as most of us, and she is hugely captivated by Mark >> Twain. Well, Camy left the forum because of negativity shown to her, >> particularly by one person on the list who privately said she shouldn't >> be asking so many questions since this is for collegiate folk. (Most of >> you would agree this individual is not even in that category.) When >> considering Hal's 4 cautions, might you all also consider the point of >> this forum. Besides being a practical tool for researchers etc., can >> it not also be to further stimulate interest in Twain by answering >> questions from folk like Camy, the same way you all eagerly do >> following one of your public lectures, and thereby not give the >> impression of an Ivory, Ivy Tower Forum? And why shouldn't ordinary, >> decent civility be an ongoing part of any discourse on the internet as >> in public? And that should include patiently dealing with questions >> you've heard before, and not treating such people as interlopers in a >> private club. Let's follow Hal's advice. The best invention in the >> world is the delete button. But stay nice. >> -- Ron, in Elmira -- ................................................................................................................................................. Benjamin N. Wise, Ph.D. Home Phone: 603-256-8350 Professor Emeritus Fax: 603-358-2897 Keene State College [log in to unmask] Keene, NH 03435-2001