Editor's Note

EDITOR'S NOTE I would like to begin by mentioning two books that we have received recently. The first is Reinventions (Los Angeles: Spectrum Productions /Books, 2002), by Oscar Mandel, which includes four plays based on works by Homer, Cervantes, Calderón, and Marivaux. Ofspecial interest are Sigismund, King ofPoland and The Fall ofNumantia. In the introduction , Professor Mandel writes, "It is my boast that I have the singular courage to discover some goodness not only in my humble characters but also in my kings, princes, statesmen and generals. In my opinion, debunking has become too easy, too predictable, downright automatic." Nonetheless, "[t]he virtues I uncover are wrestled for; I know I must make them convincing to hardened cynics." The phrase used in the subtitle of the refashioning of La vida es sueño—"a baroque entertainment "—is perfectly apt, and the volume is rich and engaging. The second book is an edition of Mira de Amescua's La hija de Carlos Quinto, edited by Karl-Ludwig Selig (Kassel: Reichenberger, 2002). The volume derives from Professor Selig's 1946 Master's thesis at Ohio State University, directed by Claude Aníbal. The edition is quite valuable, and Professor Selig's anecdotal introduction is priceless. An example: "Like James Thurber, in Zoology I only saw my own eye in the microscope and in Geology I could not tell one rock from another. Professor Rockwood made it possible for me to pass the science requirement and to graduate. He tipped me off that the professor of Geology was a gallophile. 'Go to his office and speak French'. I passed geology; I wrote a paper on Flaubert." Professor Selig continues to receive honors from Columbia University, where he is professor emeritus. We are pleased to offer a varied collection of essays by talented Comedia scholars, along with book reviews and a report on Chamizal 2003 by Robert Lauer. We are happy to present, as well, tributes by thir- BCom, Vol. 55, No. 1 (2003) teen eminent Hispanists to Francisco Ruiz Ramón, who retired as Centennial Professor of Spanish at Vanderbilt University in May of2002. This international group of scholars, each of whom has had the opportunity to collaborate with him, celebrates Professor Ruiz Ramon's prolific and far-reaching work on drama. This representative sampling, as it were, demonstrates great admiration for his research efforts and great appreciation for his friendship. I feel honored to have had the chance to teach with Francisco Ruiz Ramón for two years, after having read his books and articles with devotion and having worked with him on several projects . We wish the best to Paco and Genoveva, who will be spending their time in Florida, Spain, and France, among other places. E.H.F. ...