Hello all, Yesterday, we started collecting for a GoFundMe account <https://gofund.me/47c00086> that has been initiated to help defray medical and other expenses for our Mark Twain colleague Hal Bush, who has been in a coma since January, 2021. To all you who have contributed, thank you – your generosity is deeply, deeply appreciated. I am now writing with another Hal Bush-related call: for readers. We would like to have friends and well wishers record themselves reading from some of Hal's favorite works. Twain, Eliot, Cather, and O'Connor are suggestions, but you could also look to his writings <https://www.slu.edu/arts-and-sciences/english/faculty/harold-bush.php> to see other options. Or suggest something that you think would be a meaningful contribution. We hope to be able to get these ready soon, so that Hal can begin listening to these stories. If you wish to contribute a reading, here are the steps: First, please first contact me at [log in to unmask] with what you want to read and an approximate date for when you plan to submit it. I will keep a list of those doing the readings, making sure there is no overlap. Please let me know if what you would like to read is in the public domain (generally published pre-1922). Public Domain is easier but not a dealbreaker, as we can have those works publically available in a podcast feed. Second, record your selection. Matt Seybold has provided some suggestions for recording that I have pasted below. Please introduce briefly yourself at the beginning of the file, as well as what you are reading. Third, share with me ([log in to unmask]). If the file is small enough, you can email me directly. If it is larger, you may need to upload it to a cloud location (GoogleDrive, Box, etc.) and share a link. When sending through a gmail account, for instance, larger files are automatically sent through Drive. If you have questions on that, let me know. Fourth, that's it. We will work with Matt to get the files shared. Our plan is to have public domain works shared on the Center for Mark Twain Studies podcast and other works shared directly with Hal's wife. Let me know if you have any questions. I hope to hear from you soon. Tracy along with Joe (Csicsila), Joe (Lemak), Matt, Susan Harris, and James Leonard As many of you have been working and/or teaching remotely, potentially including creating audio/video lectures, you are likely more sensitive to recorded sound quality than you were a year or so ago. If you have a set-up that you're comfortable with and which you think yields good audio for your classes and other presentations, I suggest you use that and send us files created through it. MP3, WAV, and M4A are the easiest to work with, but we can convert from other formats if necessary. For those who are uncertain how to make a high-quality audio recording, here are some recommendations: 1.) Use your phone. For iPhones, there is a free and easy-to-use application called simply "Voice Recorder." You can also use GarageBand, which likely came loaded on your phone. Find a quiet space, the smaller the better, and keep the phone as close to you as is comfortable OR, even better, procure a pair of headphones which have an in-line microphone. You can likely find a pair of earbuds with a mic for under $10 at your grocery or pharmacy. 2.) Use Quicktime on your computer. Go to the File Menu, click on New Audio Recording. When you're ready to start reading, hit the record button. When finished, hit stop and save the file to your desktop. 3.) Use Zoom. Create a Zoom meeting for yourself. When you enter the virtual room, go to "More" and hit "Record To This Computer." You will see the recording icon appear in the top left corner. When you are finished reading, stop the recording. It will prompt you to save the file upon leaving the meeting. Hit "End Meeting For All" and follow the prompts. This will yield a MP4 file, which includes video, but we will strip out the video and only use the audio track.