Until last week, the definitely favorite moment of my academic life had
been the very first State of Mark Twain Studies Conference at Elmira in
1989.  At that conference I had my first face-to-face encounter with
such Twain Studies luminaries as Lou Budd, Everett Emerson, and Alan
Gribben--who welcomed me as if I had already been a member of their
fellowship for many years past.  I also had my first look at Quarry
Farm, under the guidance of Darryl Baskin's young assistant Gretchen
Sharlow.  And as I was driving home from the conference, I pulled my car
to the side of Interstate 89 (probably illegally) to marvel at the most
perfectly viewable lunar eclipse I've ever seen--an omen, no doubt, of
other great Elmira moments to come.  And excellent they have been--under
Gretchen's direction, and now under Barb Snedecor's.  And the atmosphere
at those conferences has been such that many subsequent newcomers have
surely felt the delight that I experienced at the gracious
accessibleness of the Mark Twain scholarly community.

But this one surely topped them all--thanks to the outstanding work of
Barb and the conference co-chairs, Michael Kiskis and Bruce Michelson,
along with their supporting cast of Twain Center staff and conference
planning committee, as well as the many Twain other scholars who
contributed their expertise and enthusiasm to make it an occasion to
remember.  And who could forget that final coming-together at the study
site?  When I described to my wife the experience of standing at night
in the woods (in a light rain that no one seemed to notice), on the site
of Mark Twain's fabled octagonal study, smoking cigars (which I thank
John Bird for providing), listening to Hal Holbrook's beautifully
recounted stories of meetings with Clara and Nina, then forming a circle
and singing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?"--her response was
appropriate: "I knew that's what you Mark Twain people do when you get
together.  So you finally admit it!"  To which, being undeniably
guilty-as-charged, I can only reply: "A Purple-and-Gold Toast to that!
May the Elmira Conferences and the Circle of Mark Twain Fellowship live
forever!"

--Jim Leonard