I agree with John's assessment of the excellence of the current issue of
The Mark Twain Annual and the miracle of its appearing on time, but I
have to take exception to the too-modest appraisal of his work as the
Annual's founding editor.  The Annual, like Miniver Cheevy (and
Catch-22's Major Major Major Major) was "born too late"--i.e., it was
far behind schedule from the beginning.  John, in the five superb issues
that he produced, and Ann, whose 2008 issue continues that superlative
tradition, have struggled heroically to catch up without sacrificing
quality--with each issue getting a bit closer to being on time.  With
the help of Wiley-Blackwell's insistence that it must be so for the 2008
issue, we've now arrived there.  Congratulations to both Ann and John.
--Jim L.