Reading all the glowing reports about the Hannibal Conference makes me regret, even more, that I was unable to attend. My big question - when is the next one? Heather Morgan. On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 3:52 PM, R. Kent Rasmussen wrote: > Mark Twain once remarked how sad it was our memories must decay as we > go = > to pieces. I'm old enough now to know how true that is. Some day, I'm > = > sure, all I'll remember about my meager contributions to Mark Twain = > studies is that I once wrote a book called MARK TWAIN A TO G. I shall > = > not, however, ever forget the thrill of attending the first scholarly > = > Mark Twain conference in Hannibal, Mo., which concluded this past = > weekend. From start to finish, it was an unmitigated joy--most = > especially to those paying their first visit to Sam Clemens's boyhood > = > home. In my own case, it was my second visit there. However, as my > first = > visit came fully 19 years ago (when my ignorance of Mark Twain covered > = > the whole earth like a blanket, with hardly a hole in it anywhere), > this = > visit felt like a first-time experience. Being envied is humankind's = > chiefest joy, so let me relish telling those of you not at the = > conference what you missed: > > --$15/night dorm rooms with semiprivate bathrooms (i.e., shared by two > = > rooms) and air conditioning > > --weather so cool that even attendees not from Yuma occasionally > wanted = > extra blankets > > --guided tours of every major landmark and historic site in Hannibal > and = > Florida (which is even more invisible now than it was in Clemens's = > time)--mostly under the expert guidance of Henry Sweets, ranconteur = > extraordinaire > > --a riverboat (no, not a real steamboat) dinner cruise under a full > moon = > on the majestic Mississippi (plus an opportunity to take the helm) > > --a selection of conference papers with too many good ones for me to = > risk mentioning only a few > > --uniformly delightful company that included lots of promising young = > scholars > _________________________________ > > HIGHLIGHTS: > > --the open-air music concert in front of the Boyhood Home on Thursday > = > night > > --Grace Coggswell's performance of "A True Story," which was so moving > I = > was grateful it was too dark in the auditorium for anyone to see my > eyes > > --Pat Ober's impromptu lecture on Dr. McDowell's attempt to petrify = > daughter body in a glass case stored deep inside the Mark Twain Cave = > (Pat spoke in the very chamber in which the body had been kept; I = > expressed my appreciation of his performance by recommending that = > another chamber--which our guide said was the cave's creepiest--be > named = > in his honor) > > --archaeologist Karen Hunt's tour of the site of John Quarles's farm > in = > Monroe Co., where she is overseeing the reconstruction of the farm's = > original buildings > > --a long and stimulating conversation with Dan Norman (I think I have > = > his name right), one of this year's young "Tom Sawyers." Through him, > I = > gained both insights into life in modern Hannibal and confidence that > = > not all young people are obsessed with cell phones, iPods, and = > television > > --getting to know Shoichi Nasu, a freelance Japanese journalist > touring = > the sites of 25 American novelists in order to write a book > (Shoichi--if = > you're reading this, don't forget to go back to the San Francisco Bay > = > Area to gather material on Jack London. While you're there, be sure to > = > take in the R. Kent Rasmussen Boyhood Home, Donut Shop and Nail Salon > in = > Berkeley) > > --Finally, I must not forget the local Mark Twain impersonator whose = > performance reached a level of perfection that brought back pleasant = > memories of the piano player in chapter 32 of A TRAMP ABROAD. > __________________________________ > > LOW POINTS: > > --visiting the public library with Tim Champlin and finding 30 copies > of = > his books and none of my own > > --seeing myself quoted at length at the Birthplace Museum's exhibit of > = > HUCK FINN illustrations and not having Beverly David with me to share > = > the moment > > --seeing how badly the old Tom Sawyer movie theater on Broadway has = > deteriorated > > --riding with Tim into Hannibal on Sunday to drop off Shoichi at the > old = > bordello and not having time to go inside > _________________________________ > > Seriously ... it was a truly wonderful occasion, and I can't wait to = > come back in 2015. My thanks to Henry Sweets, Cindy Lovell, and their > = > staff; the staff and volunteers at the Hannibal-LaGrange campus; and > all = > the old and new friends who attended. > > Kent