History/Academia/Religion/Culture/Politics/Jazz
Mode for Caleb Caleb McDaniel

Scott McLemee has a funny and accurate report on the recent annual meeting of the OAH in Washington, D.C. Especially accurate were these paragraphs:

Between sessions, there was time to visit the exhibit hall. It was a chance to gaze upon recent offerings from the university presses. All the while, a small but very persistent voice whispered in my ear. “You don’t need more books,” the voice said. “Where would you put them?”

It sounded a lot like my wife.

Other conference-goers were wandering aisles, men and women of all ages; and some bore expressions suggesting that they, too, received similar wireless transmission from significant others back home. And yet those people picked up the new books, even so. I took courage from their example.

I was fortunate enough to meet Scott when I ran into him briefly at the Hilton. He was on his way to the session on "The Creation of the Christian Right" that he discusses in his column, but he took the time to give me one of his business cards. It reads, "Scott McLemee : Essayist at Large." How cool is that?