I've been advised that I should follow the current requisite plan for speeches on occasions such as this and begin with a story of how my passion for Mark Twain in early childhood led me to a career at the Mark Twain Papers. Well, that is not the story I am going to tell.
Here's how it really happened. In the summer of 1967 Cheryl (my wife) and I decided to go to Paris and London, and travel in England and France. We'd both graduated from UC Berkeley, and our subsequent jobs had ended. Because we couldn't afford to both make the trip and keep up the rent on our apartment, we gave up the apartment and took off for Europe. When we came back, we first needed to find a place to live and then, as soon as possible, jobs. I had no idea where I would find a...
