Thank you for your post, Mr. Layne. I know who Ellen DeGeneres is, of course, but have not seen her perform, nor do I watch her TV show, although I have caught snippets from time to time. I was not impressed by the very little I had seen of her. I was skeptical about her as a choice for the prize, but refrained from judging someone about whom I knew next-to-nothing. By your presenting a different opinion of Ellen Degeneres from that of others on this forum, I am more comfortable with the choice the committee made. Carol Peiffer ========== See and purchase art work and products designed by C.J. Peiffer at Zazzle Pro ArtzVisit C.J. Peiffer's art and writing blog: Pro Artz and her Peace Corps Brazil blog: A Little "Peace" of Brazil “Peace requires the simple but powerful recognition that what we have in commonas human beings is more important and crucial than what divides us.” -Sargent Shriver > Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2012 10:44:33 -0700 > From: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: The 15th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is . . . > To: [log in to unmask] > > My wife chided me for not pronouncing her name correctly, =93It=92s > DeGeneres, not Dee-Jen-Heiress.=94 But I think I=92ve got it right now, > and am in love with her humor. > For the first time in the 15 year history of the Mark Twain Prize for > American Humor I was able to watch the 90-minute event as it aired on > PBS. In thanking PBS Ellen teased, =93I=92m so glad to be a part of your > farewell season.=94 Even Oscar the Grouch had to guffaw. > Finally, this year for the first time, the Mark Twain Prize goes to a > humorist instead of a comedian. We've had hundreds of comedians in > this great land of ours but very few humorists, Ben Franklin, Twain > (portrayed today by Hal Holbrook), Will Rogers, Garrison Keillor...and > the difference between a comedian and a humorist is ever so vast. > The comedian's job is to make us laugh, and laughter is good for us, > it=92s like massage on the inside, cuts down on the doctor bills, keeps > us from souring. But the comedian oftentimes bestows this favor upon > us at the expense of somebody else, or at the expense of decency, and > leaves feeling guilty for laughing at pejorative humor. > President Taft once said, "Mark Twain never wrote a line that a father > could not read to his daughter." Yet George Carlin, a previous winner > of the Twain Prize, was famous for his "Seven Dirty Words You Can > Never Say on Television." > The humorist's job is merely to show us the good natured side of the > truth. The humorist is not looking for a laugh, the humorist is > looking for a nod of acknowledgement or perhaps the hint of a smile. > Twain reminds us that =93Laughter without a tinge of philosophy is but a > sneeze of humor. Genuine humor is replete with wisdom. Humor must > not professedly teach, and it must not professedly preach, but it must > do both if it would live forever =96which is thirty years.=94 > As she took the stage to accept the prize, Ellen lamented the fact > that she had to follow so many funny people, and how she had hoped to > follow Ken Burns, thus making light of a truism that Sam illuminated > so long ago. =93Set a diamond upon a pall of black if you'd have it > glisten.=94 > She went on to say, =93I have not read Twain, but then he has not seen > my HBO special.=94 To wit an admirer of both responded, =93It would be > impossible to give the faintest idea of her talk on paper. Written or > spoken by another it would lose half its points of value. We can only > congratulate those who heard her and pity those who did not.=94 > Lilly Tomlin stole my heart when she called Ellen, =93Our Huckleberry > Friend.=94 Ellen, like Huck, stuck by her friend to confront society > and challenge conventional thinking, conventional notions. > Twain railed against human foibles and humbuggery, yes, but he did it > with a scalpel, not a switch-blade. Twain's discriminating > irreverence was drawn not from the warrior's quiver, but from the > artist's pallet. He would not kick a humbug in the shin, but would > place a bench strategically in his path so that he might bark his own > shin. > It=92s one thing to have a sense of humor, it is something more to have > a humorous outlook on life. Ellen DeGeneres has a health-giving > outlook on life, and is a humorist of the blood royal. To my mind she > is the very first to truly deserve the Mark Twain Prize for American > Humor. We might go another generation to find another of her rank, or > perhaps another generation for her to find us... > McAvoy > > McAvoy Layne > ghostoftwain.org > Chautauqua-Central.org > Email: [log in to unmask] > PO Box 4522 > Incline Village, NV 89450 > 775-833-1835 > > Diligently train your ideals upward toward a summit where you will find you= > r > chiefest pleasure in conduct, which while contenting you, will be sure to > confer benefits upon your neighbor and the community. -Mark Twain