Re: maiden voyage

oconnort@nyu.edu
Tue, 08 Jul 1997 08:32:56 -0400 (EDT) 

 
> hello - this is my first day (and first posting) on this list - and i
> hope i am not being presumptuous by jumping right in before i really get
> a good feel for the groove you guys are trying to create here.  however,
> after getting the digest this evening, i do have a couple of things to
> say...

To paraphrase Will Strunk (of the well-known law firm of Strunk &
White), "When you have something to say, say it!"  So ... welcome to the
forum.  Your first thoughts are welcome; if you want to see what has
gone on before you joined, point your favorite web browser at:

	http://www.nyu.edu/acf/staff/oconnort/JDS

I'll be updating it today (now that I'm back in the country) to include
the last few days.

> 1-there has been speculation that william wharton is salinger in cognito.
>  i personally don't believe it - even though wharton is one of my other
> favorite authors.  anyone else heard this?

There was quite a bit of that; I have a letter to the editor of the
Times Book Review in which Wharton's agent sent a note deflating this.

I too spent a lot of time enthralled by him, and am still a big fan,
even if he's not JDS.  In fact, all you who like challenges a la the
Esquire article about finding Salinger's house, try finding Wharton, who
lives "on a houseboat on the Seine."  I've walked the banks of the Seine
many times in Paris, wondering, just wondering, if I'd see his name.
(As everyone probably knows, "Wharton" is a pseudonym.)

> 3-thanks tim - for creating this venue for discussing something so dear
> to all of our hearts, and for respecting us enough to try to guide the
> discussion first without kicking anyone off without warning.  i think
> maybe we can all try to remember the reasons why we want to be here in
> the first place.
> 
>  sorry for being so long winded - i'll try to be more brief next time.

You have nothing to apologize for.  This is why we're here.  It is not
so different from a workshop; we're here to contribute, but not to 
disrupt everyone else.

--tim