Thanks to Ben Click for his very kind words! But Ben did not give a full sense of the work he did in putting on an amazing night. A sit-down dinner for about 250 donors, and then a flawless program with big names and a large, enthusiastic crowd. If Ben ever asks you to go to St. Mary's for one of his annual programs, jump at the chance: an incredibly beautiful campus on the banks of the St. Mary's River, impeccable hospitality, and a genial piano and guitar playing host. It was a great Mark Twain night in southern Maryland! John Bird Winthrop University -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Click, Benjamin A Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 10:22 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: John Bird Rocks 1200! Dear Forum Members: This past Saturday night (April 24), our John Bird sat onstage with NPR's P= eter Sagal, CNN political analyst Amy Holmes, and CBS Sunday Morning's Mo R= occa and participated in a panel discussion, which Sagal moderated, called = "Twain's Relevance Today: Race, Religion, Politics, and the 'Damned Human = Race'." In short, John was magnificent--quantum! In front of an audience of 1200 c= ollege students and community members, John was the glue that held the pane= l together! In what could have been a night of just laughs, but no Twain, = or a night of only Twain and little current relevance or laughs, John was e= ngaging, informative, insightful, and as funny as Mo Rocca and Peter Sagal.= It was a night that paid true tribute to the genius of MT. When the semester ends, and I have time to post some of the highlights of t= he evening on the Twain Lecture Series website (www.smcm.edu/twain) , I wil= l. In the meantime, please congratulate John on his triumph this past Satu= rday night. If the intent of what we are doing in this year of Twain is to= keep the man and his works in the American consciousness, then what John a= nd Peter, Amy, and Mo did on Saturday went a long way to that end! =20 Thanks, John! Ben