I first met Michael Kiskis in 1992 when several of us were invited to present papers at the Mark Twain House in Hartford. There I was in the midst of the likes of Louis Budd, Jim Cox, Jeffrey Steinbrink, Scot Michaelson, Kerry Driscoll, and the very up-and-coming Jim Zwick, an unknown scholar from a small college in rural North Carolina, probably the smallest one represented, surrounded by representatives from the University of Virginia, Dartmouth, Duke, Princeton, and others much larger and well-known. The symposium concluded with a roundtable discussion of all the participants. Michael, then an assistant dean and professor at Empire State College, who--as is his nature--had been already been friendly to me, further encouraged me out of any remaining timidity: "John made a good point." "Let's hear what John has to say." In years since, I saw him each quadrennial I attended in Elmira and met his smiles with small talk. I don't know that he actually recalled that event, me, or my name, but I remember Michael Kiskis well and fondly. I am saddened and, like others who have written and are yet to write or respond in their own ways, will miss him. On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 8:09 AM, Stephen F. Railton < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > As others have said, this is very sad news. Michael was one of the most > generous scholars I've ever known. I know there are many of us who won't > stop missing him. Steve Railton > -- John H. Davis, Ph.D. Professor of English Department of Language and Literature Chowan University Murfreesboro, North Carolina 27855