"He was a gay and impudent and satirical and delightful young black
man....... I believed he was the greatest orator in the United States and
would some day be heard from"
Mark Twain, in the essay  _ Corn-Pone Opinions_, speaking of a slave named
Jerry.

Richard Pryor is a descendant  of the tradition of  great oratory
impudence practiced by Jerry, the slave who so influenced young Sam
Clemens. Hell, he may even be a blood relative. In any case, Pryor has been
"heard from" and now he's been honored. Why? Because Richard did a good job
of discerning from whence this society's "corn-pone" came. Here's to him.

Barry Crimmins - who stopped putting muchstock in awards when Henry
Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize