In the 14 years since I completed an undergrad course on Twain, I've
been a steadfast lurker on this list. Only now am I finally compelled to
post, even if it is only to post a link to yet another response to the
Huck Finn brouhaha.

Michael Chabon's response in the Atlantic,

http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2011/01/the-unspeakable-in-its-jammies/69369/

affected me more directly than most other opinions I've read on the
subject so far.  Like Chabon, I am also a father of two young children
with a hearty appetite for books.  As in Chabon's anecdote, I know that
some day in the ever-nearing future I'll be faced with a similar
conflict of how to navigate the n-word and of how to steer my children
into the correct contextual current.  I know when that moment arrives I
will appreciate, even more than I do now, the voices on this list.

So in advance, I want to thank you all for your tireless, entertaining,
and informative devotion to Twain scholarship.

JB