Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies

Conference News for November, 2004

The "War in Film, TV, and History" conference for November of 2004 is taking shape. The most recent information is available on the Film & History web site, to include favored airline details, hotel data for the Dolce Convention Center, and partial academic area information. The Dolce Convention Center is linked to our web site and prospective participants are invited to stroll (electronically) on a guided tour. (This tour is an impressive experience unto itself, a real example of the Internet at work.)

We have a number of important participants with special expertise. Adrian Cronauer is a real person whose "story" was put into a script by Cronauer, himself, and presented to filmmakers who then modified it into a feature film entitled Good Morning, Vietnam (Dir. Barry Levinson, 1987). As an improviser and comic, actor Robin Williams then added his special talents to an excellent film which exhibits some of the defects of the Hollywood vision, but also some uncommon virtues—esp. in its humanized view of the Vietnamese people—so often missing from motion pictures about the American presence in Vietnam. Cronauer will be our luncheon speaker on Saturday and will show clips from the film as he discusses the vicissitudes of working with Hollywood on a depiction of one's own life experience. Adrian is an experienced public speaker and always starts his presentations with the well-know, signature cry "Gooooooood Moooooorning, Vietnam!" He visits college campuses and many will want to invite him to speak to classes and colloquia at their schools.

We have known Lawrence Suid for decades and have respected his work since we encountered the first edition of his Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film (1978. UP of Kentucky, 2002). The original version of the book was out of print for a long time until the University Press of Kentucky agreed to put it back into the marketplace—this time with additional materials bringing the story up to date and with further research on previously covered topics. Many readers will know that Suid is famous for his oral history approach to filmmaking: he interviews the sound people, the lighting directors, the editors as well as the Department of Defense personnel who become a part of the filmmaking scene during the planning and production of war films. The kind of insights supplied by the research can be found nowhere else; alas, the book has not received the kind of use it deserves—perhaps because of its traditional methodology of real research. So many scholars, these days, do not deign to delve into facts in their rush to theory. We have given Dr. Suid two hours to lay out his methods; we have asked him to illustrate his findings with scenes from a broad spectrum of war films. The session should inspire scholars to reintroduce this stimulating book to their classrooms and professional discussions.

As this issue goes to press, The Alamo (Dir. John Lee Hancock, 2004) is very much in the public eye: Roger Ebert praised the film in a nationally-syndicated column; the production offers an opportunity to examine the cinematic combination of historical fact, dramatic necessity, and plot development. Susan Rollins and I had the unique opportunity, during the San Antonio meeting of the Popular Culture Association, to visit the real Alamo—or what is left of it—and then to view the premiere [End Page 1] screening of the feature film with its stars led by Col. William Travis (Patrick Wilson) with Jim Bowie (Jason Patric), and Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton). The experience brought home how important these recreations of history can be for "popular memory" and how significant is the role of our efforts at Film & History to compare the Hollywood interpretation with the rival historical profession's evolving analysis. (Both are, of course, interpretations.) In any case, we are very lucky that the Literature Film Association will be bringing Frank Thompson to our meeting. We know Thompson from his work on Lincoln in film because he delivered a fine paper on the topic at a Film & History session at the American Historical Association meeting in Chicago some years back. Anyone who goes to our web site will encounter a very long list of books by Thompson dealing with films about Texas—especially films dealing with the Alamo, beginning with the silent era and coming right up to the present. Thompson acted as an advisor to the recent J.L. Hancock film and even played a bit part in three scenes; after the production, he wrote the official Novelization. As a result, he is intimately familiar with the historiography and filmography concerning the Alamo and has direct involvement in the latest effort. (Is General Santa Anna an analog for Saddam Hussein, etc?) Thompson will share his insights at a special session of our conference sponsored by the Literature Film Association, a session which will be open to all.

We can now announce the participation by Jeanine Basinger, Director of Film Studies at Wesleyan University (Conn.) and author of a basic book in this field, The World War II Combat Film: Anatomy of a Genre (1986. Wesleyan UP, 2003). Many of us have learned so much from this fine study and we are hoping that Basinger will bring us up to date about her research. Because of special events related to the film studies program at her school, Dr. Basinger's schedule at press time is still not definite. She is wants to be with us if plans at Wesleyan College fall into place. (Among other things, Wesleyan is the site of the Frank Capra Archive and an expanding undergraduate film program.) In a recent phone call, Dr. Basinger has confirmed her attendance: she will be given a 2-hour time slot for her presentation.

Our meeting will take place at the Dolce Conference center, a ten minute (complimentary) van ride from the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. Like our last conferences—in 2000 on "The Presidency in Film"(Simi Valley, California); in 2002 on "The West in Film"(in Kansas City, Missouri)—this meeting will offer traditional academic panels, but will include a box lunch, a formal luncheon with Adrian Cronauer (see above) plus some special events. We will be serving snacks and drinks throughout the day, a rare luxury at professional meetings where participants often must gorge themselves during brief, assigned breaks. We plan to offer key films on evenings when speakers are not scheduled. The individual room cost of $79 is pretty special and will help those with limited budgets—that is, all university graduate students and their professors. Like many other meetings, this conference allows scholars to network, share research, and to reconsider basic questions about a major film genre. At least three university presses will have their relevant books on display, items worthy of adoption for courses; once again, Scholars Choice will represent many presses in a consolidated display. (If you have a book you want participants to view and examine, contact your publisher who then must work with Scholars Choice: Judy Lohr is the contact for your publisher and she is at judylohr@scholarschoice.com). All displays must go through Scholars Choice and should be coordinated with Ms. Lohr and not with our staff. Please contact your publisher now and start the process.

The staff has urged me to iterate that the conference is not limited to American films concerning war, but war films from anywhere on the terraqueous globe and from any time period. As we tell our students concerning their questions in class, if you have a topic which interests you, it is highly likely to interest others. Furthermore, it is also worth mentioning that we will publish an entire year of Film & History on the topic, but the two issues are not the only venues for research on War in Film, Television, and History. We plan to produce a CD-ROM which will include video, audio, and articles from the conference and from other sources along lines established by previous CD-ROM Annuals. As a result, everyone who has an article accepted for the program and who participates in the meeting has an opportunity to publish with Film & History in some way. (All papers are juried.) John E. O'Connor and Peter Rollins will select a balanced set of articles for book publication. Our experience with papers from the presidency conference and then from the conference on the West has shown that the work of our scholars is of interest to publishers and to both academic and general audiences. Those who, for a variety of reasons, do not fit into the book project will be given the opportunity to appear on the CD-ROM—if accepted by the peer reviewers.

New Web Site "Look"

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The web address for Film & History remains the same (www.filmandhistory.org), but the new look is just wonderful. And it seems to be attractive since we are now receiving over 200 visits per day to the site and we are about to pass the 50,000 mark for visits since April, 2002. Special categories are placed on the left side of the screen and a single click leads to requested information. For example, the tables of contents for all past issues over the last 33 years are there and can be searched by key word using the CTL/F function of your computer keyboard; this option means that a scholar visiting the web site with an interest in Leni Riefenstahl (d. 2003) could enter the name and then be led to all articles which have invoked her name. The scholar then has the option to go to the local university library or to purchase a back issue of the journal for research purposes—and some libraries will buy them for scholars. In any case, interested Internet users from across the globe can tap Film & History bibliographical information even when their libraries do not subscribe to the journal. Our CD-ROM series, which now includes five (5) CDs, are listed and described; those who have not heard of this innovative resource series can see what general categories there are for articles and will learn about what kind of audio and video information can be gleaned. They are veritable treasure troves and we are doing our best to turn one out annually—which means more books, articles, radio shows are available each and every year. This electronic publication has broadened the scope of the journal and given a forum for many more papers than what we could squeeze into the standard hard-copy version. We have been surprised by the number of television stations and documentary filmmakers who have purchased the CD-ROMs for research purposes; they were not the target audiences for our work, but we are glad to see the information reach large audiences. (See page 5 for overview of the 2003 version.)

The new look of the site can be traced back to a creative and energetic friend of Film & History, Ms. Lacy Landrum of Oklahoma State University. Lacy is a gifted maker of electronic venues and hosts a number of them, some for the English Department at OSU and some for other entities such as Film & History and the Southwest Popular Culture Association. As a literate and inventive person, she has added to the content as well as the appearance of the web sites mentioned; we at Film & History are particularly grateful to her for the conscientiousness and diligence. The results are impressive and the web site was recently nominated for an award! Readers are urged to visit the site and to click around to the many caches of information. In gratitude for her contributions, we have awarded Ms. Landrum the John E. O'Connor Service Award for 2003, a laurel well-deserved.

The American Historical Association Meeting

(January 8-11, 2004)

The AHA met in the nation's capital in January where Film & History had a table to display its wares. This year, our offerings were in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel and, during the period allotted to affiliates, we were virtually accosted by hundreds of interested historians. It was delightful to have this opportunity to meet new scholars and to share our flyers and posters with them. Many have registered for the conference already. It is especially pleasing to meet graduate students just starting their careers; the enthusiasm and interest rewards us beyond all measure.

Film & History sponsored a panel session on a topic of local interest, the White House in film and television. The session was chaired by yours truly and included a paper on "The History of the West Wing" by William Bushong, a historian at the White House Historical Association. Myron Levine, a political scientist, presented a contrast between "The Real West Wing and the Reel West Wing," based on his research of the actual institution and the various cinematic renderings of it—especially the popular television series with Martin Sheen as President Josiah Bartlet (NBC, 1999-2004). For a colorful historical perspective, we were joined by Deborah Carmichael, the omnicompetent Associate Editor of Film& History, concerning a film of continued interest, Gabriel Over the White House (Dir. Gregory LaCava, 1933). As many readers know, this film had strong backing from William Randolph Hearst and has [End Page 3] been considered by many to be a frightening portrait of what a president might do in desperate times. (The military tribunals in the film resonate with developments in our own era.) Carmichael has examined new records concerning the film's production and intentions and shared her conclusions with us in a city where executive prerogatives and powers are a matter of constant speculation. Ms. Carmichael's presentation received considerable attention and coverage by attending blogs and pundits.

C-SPAN has been very generous to Film & History over the years, taping and broadcasting our AHA panels in New York (Oliver Stone), Seattle (Ken Burns), Chicago (Garry Wills). The Washington meeting was broadcast live over C-SPAN 1 and then rebroadcast some 5 additional times over C-SPAN 2. The program was two hours in length and we have received a lot of feedback as well as sales of the relevant books introduced by the discussions. Copies of the tape are available from the C-SPAN ARCHIVE at Purdue University where the identification number 179862 will help the clerk to find and to give a price quote; the program would be very useful for libraries and could be put in a pool for teachers in different disciplines. The session concludes with a spirited overview of the issues by John E. O'Connor, Founder of Film & History, the most senior scholar in the field.

Many will want to consult the two books which inspired the session; both volumes emerged from our California conference in Y2000. Hollywood's White House (UP of Kentucky, 2003) contains papers which explore the gamut from George Washington to Bill Clinton, comparing and contrasting the "realities" of the presidential years with the selective portraits by the motion picture and television industries. It has received very positive reviews from journals in culture studies. The West Wing (Syracuse UP) has a more intense—albeit, limited) focus on an award-winning television series during the Aaron Sorkin era for the program (1999-2003). (This book has gone into a second printing.) Both books proudly represent the wonderful papers given at our presidency conference in the land of cellulose and cellulite; they are also very suitable to the classroom. Hollywood's White House received the Ray and Pat Browne Award at the San Antonio meeting of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association in early April of 2004.

Popular Culture Panels and Kudos

Film & History participated in the combined meetings of the national Popular Culture Association/national American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) and the Southwest Regional Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (SWPCA/ACA) during the month of April. The national associations met jointly with the regional, resulting in a critical mass of panels of interest to scholars and the general audience alike: total attendance was in the vicinity of 1800 people. Film and television studies were represented by areas such as Film, Film Adaptations, Shakespeare on Film, Television, Media Bias and Distortion. Robert Fyne (RJFyne@aol.com) coordinated the Film & History panels for the national organizations this year, but will be replaced by a younger scholar in the future, Barry Langford of Leeds University.

There is a synergy between Film & History and the popular culture groups. They were all created around 1970 when the professions were ignoring—even scoffing at— the study of popular materials. Film & History took a lead which it has never relinquished in the study of motion pictures within a historical context. Under Ray Browne and others, the Popular Culture groups explored a variety of mainstream cultural materials—to include popular architecture, foods and culture, comic books, and films—which were deemed below the dignity of Academe. The results are obvious: we now know more about the dynamics and aesthetics of ordinary culture than ever before and, as a result, we have ways of teaching our students in ways unheard of in years past. Most of us in these areas feel strongly that a media age needs both media study and media literacy; in encouraging such work, Film & History and the journals which flourished from Bowling Green in the early 1970s have made all the difference.

Film & History Teaching and Archival Materials Available

The CD-ROM has been one of the great breakthroughs for scholarly resources. Since 1999, Film & History has published annually such electronic anthologies of information for libraries and individuals around the globe. The most ambitious project was the Film & History CD-ROM for 26 Years, a capacious tool which contains every word published by the journal from 1970 to 1996. This collection is word-searchable using Adobe Acrobat, a software loaded on the disk for those who do not have it in their computers. Creating this behemoth was a daunting project; indeed we had to go through the entire process twice to get it right! But now it is available for libraries and researchers and provides a very simple way to acquire those 26 [End Page 4] years worth of our pioneering journal—although we now have complete back sets in hard copy (ie, paper) ready for binding by libraries and we welcome orders of the hard sets. Indeed, the University of London just acquired a hard-copy set for its students and researchers. (Some librarians are fanatical about paper records and have no desire to acquire new technologies! While this resistance may seem backward, I have heard cogent arguments from thoughtful librarians about why they choose to go the hard copy route.)

Since 1999, Film & History has produced a CD-ROM annually. Each contains two books by John E. O'Connor, now out of print: American History/American Film and American History/American Television. In addition, there are from 30-40 juried articles by authors from across the globe. Due to our thematic emphasis in the hard-copy version of Film &History, we were unable to publish many worthy (and approved) articles which do not fit into our announced topic; the CD-ROM annuals give us an electronic venue for such research. Each year, we also include caches of primary materials, items which graduate students could use for their M.A. thesis projects and which professional scholars will be able to tap for teaching or writing. Each CD-ROM Annual also has both audio and video dimensions. These are virtual treasure troves of materials in our field and should be in every library which subscribes to Film & History.

The 2001-2002 project is ready for purchase. The web site has contents information for all of the CD-ROMS; please direct your librarian to the relevant tables of contents and check them out for your own interests. A special touch in the 2001-2002 Film & History CD-ROM Annual is a long and fascinating treatise by Patrick Griffin, one of the true pioneers of film and history studies.

As far back as 1969, Griffin and others presented their first draft of a film entitled Goodbye Billy: America Goes to War, 1917-18 (Cadre Films). This project was viewed as a revolution in compilation filmmaking and set standards of authenticity and artistry which, although in a film made nearly a half-century ago, far outshines the daily pabulum of The History Channel and other historical venues. With Richard Raack, the Cadre group of historian-filmmakers went on to make The Frozen War; with Peter Rollins, they made Will Rogers' 1920s: A Cowboy's Guide to the Times (1976). All of these films received major awards and two were given the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle, the highest award for non-theatrical films. Griffin has gone on to be nominated for at least four Emmy Awards and holds an honorific role with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. His new project for the CD-ROM annual runs over fifty pages: part one lays out Griffin's theoretical framework while part two discusses the practice of filmmaking as he has come to know it as a maker of—or advisor to—some 50 documentaries for television over a 30-year career.

The Griffin treatise is a capstone achievement: "It is a way of summing up and sharing my experience with the historical profession, and the most important product of the early ferment in history and film" (Interview on 3.25.03). "What I wanted to do in writing this is very concretely discuss not only 'how you do it' (as historians have asked) but the why of 'how you do it.'" Such remarks by Griffin remind me of the earnest and early discussions of the historian as filmmaker which I absorbed at AHA meetings in the late 1960s and which inspired me to become a scholar of film and, as well, a historian-filmmaker, myself. Griffin's sincerity shined through when he told me, "This is an effort to be as concrete [about historians as filmmakers] and with as little jargon as possible." We are hoping that producers and directors will read these speculations and apply the delineated principles. As we have mentioned in previous issues, our largest audience for the CD-ROM Annuals consists of filmmakers and television stations—who seem to be looking for new production projects. With the 2001-2 version, they will also receive a mature discussion of history in film by a master in the field.

Now in the final stages of production is the 2003 CD-ROM Annual. A special touch for this venture is the first reprint (on disk) of Charles Maland's (justifiably) famous American Visions: The Films of Chaplin, Ford, Capra, and Welles, 1936-1941 (Arno Press, 1977). As an early study along American Studies lines, Maland's overview of an important period and focus on major directors was really a breakthrough in interdisciplinary scholarship. This long book is now part of the cd-rom and comes under the umbrella of the universal search option, an option which is simultaneously available for the two John O'Connor books and all of the new articles.

General topics for the 2003 CD-ROM Annual include the following: The American West(s), seven articles; The American Presidency, five articles; The War Film, five articles; History in Film and Television, three articles; International Cinema, four articles; Politics and Propaganda, two articles; Film Controversies, four articles; Genre, Gender, and Ethnicity, three articles; Pedagogy, two articles. All of these papers are juried and new efforts by such diversely located scholars as Ralph Donald (Southern Illinois U), Pat Tyrer (West Texas U), Lawrence Baron (San Diego State U), and Michael Sugimoto (U of Puget Sound) are included. In all, thirty-seven (37) scholars have contributed to the effort for 2003. Like the previous five (5) CD-ROM Annuals, these research materials will be an invaluable contribution to university libraries. Ask your reference librarian to acquire them before you need them.

Recent Books from Film & History

John E. O'Connor and Peter Rollins were fortunate enough to glean nearly 50 articles from our conference on the Presidency in Film and TV in Y2000. Two books resulted and they are doing well out there in the market place. Hollywood's [End Page 5] White House: The American Presidency as Film and History (UP of Kentucky, 2003) has been the basis for a number of radio and television interviews since it appeared; USA Today Magazine (a monthly) reviewed the book with high praise and it has won the Ray and Pat Browne Award from the Popular Culture Association, with a plaque presented by Lynn Bartholome, president at the business meeting of the Popular Culture Association Right now, only the hard bound version is available, but a paperback version is on the way and is at the press as I write. We have been using the book as a text in a graduate seminar at OSU and a student told me just this week that she found the essays to be informative and readable; she appreciated the lack of jargon and the emphasis on historical developments because, as an English graduate student, she felt deficient in the historical milieu. It would be hard to find a better compliment for the book.

A second book emerged from the conference. The West Wing: The American Presidency as Television Drama (Syracuse UP, 2003) was completed and published at a fortuitous moment—just as writer Aaron Sorkin, creator of the series and Thomas Schlamme, one of the lead directors, stepped aside and allowed the project to move on. Thus the book is an encapsulation of the series in its "Sorkin phase." When I last inspected the Amazon.com bookseller site on the Internet, this book was number 14,800 and going "down" on the numerical scale—with number 1 as the best rating out of the millions of books for sale. The inherent interest of the series for white collar viewers most be conceded, but we have had special focus on the book due to the exposure received from an independent West Wing web site moderated by Barbara Warne (www.westwing.bewarne.com). Ms. Warne has featured the book on the front page of the site and has developed a chapter-by-chapter summary of the contents, a feature still in evolution, but one which has drawn special attention to the book. Students have given this book high marks and it has been discussed at great length over syndicated radio with Michael Dresser; that long interview is available at the Michael Dresser Show web site (show for June 23, 2003). After the considerable effort—including a conference on the subject plus two issues of the journal—it is a delight to see our efforts reaching classrooms and a general audience. Many people at the PCA/ACA conference in San Antonio purchased the West Wing book and brought it over to the Film&History display table for John O'Connor and Peter Rollins to sign; this personal contact was a lot of fun and led to the sale of over thirty copies of the book—most often for family members who "worship" the series according to our contacts.

The Columbia Companion to American History on Film (2003)

For the last seven (7) years, we have been laboring on a massive reference work entitled The Columbia Companion to American History on Film: How the Movies Have Portrayed the American Past. A total of eighty (80) authors participated in this effort and the results are truly exciting. This book is NOT a history of film, but a survey of how feature and documentary films have interpreted American life. When we have attended AHA meetings over the years, we have received countless requests for such a reference work. It is truly a response to the needs of graduate students, scholars, and librarians for a synoptic overview of key peoples, issues, institutions, events, and myths of the Amerian experience. Each entry is designed to survey the territory and to launch the reader on a quest for more reading and viewing; to that end, each essay concludes with significant bibliographical guidance. At the Washington meeting of AHA, a female film scholar embraced me with tears in her eyes...she was so happy to have such a reference!

It would be difficult for us to overstate my gratitude to the contributors for their efforts. There is literally nothing like it. And since each entry was written by an expert on that topic, each is focused, trenchant, and redolent with ideas for future research. This book will be my most significant contribution to the study of film and I am just delighted that it was a team effort by so many people who were—or have become—my good friends. In the near future, we will put information up on the Film &History web site to give a more detailed portrait of the contents. Anyone who has used other Columbia UP Companions will know what a boon such a work is to the active researcher; I own two of them, myself, and consult them on a regular basis.

The Columbia Companion to American History on Film has been reviewed favorably by Publishers Weekly, The Library Journal, and The Journal of American Culture. One might say that the Publishers Weekly review may be more positive than the book deserves, but then we are told to never refuse compliments! The 27 May broadcast of Talk of the Nation (with Neil Conan) will feature Peter Rollins and the book from 3:00-4:00pm, EST. The book synthesizes our wisdom on this subject as of 2004; more is to be learned, but this reference work provides a wonderful platform for those who wish to launch into the future. [End Page 6]

Awards at the National PCA/ACA Conference in San Antonio

The PCA conference in San Antonio brought a veritable freshet of awards for some Film & History scholars. On Saturday night, at the business meeting of the organizations, John E. O'Connor and Peter Rollins were presented the Ray and Pat Browne Award for their Hollywood's White House: The American Presidency as Television Drama (2003). On Wednesday night, O'Connor and Rollins were given a table outside the official reception by PCA to autograph copies of the book for members of the organization; Ms. Leila Salisbury of the UP of Kentucky was present to unpack new books from a box to cope with the flood of professors interested in a signed copy.

Throughout the meeting, both the UP of Kentucky and the Syracuse UP provided conspicuous signs and placards at their book displays for the O'Connor and Rollins production. We were very happy to see the work of our scholars recognized with such panache. That same evening a new—now to be annual—award named for Peter Rollins was presented for "the best documentary film" of the year to Jeff Krulick, an innovative filmmaker with a unique vision. A few of Krulick's iconoclastic films were screened on Wednesday evening.

A ninety-minute session on Wednesday afternoon was dedicated to honoring Peter Rollins for his contributions to the organizations as an officer, as the Director of Development for many years, and for efforts to communicate with a general audience. Michael T. Marsden (St. Norbert College), one of the founders of the PCA reminded the assembled of Rollins' work outside the organization as a "public intellectual" in regard to Vietnam issues and Vietnam veterans. Michael K. Schoenecke (Texas Tech U) discussed the work of Rollins with graduate students, a task which is a reward unto itself. Ray B. Browne (Bowling Green U), the founder of the group shared anecdotes about the common efforts over the years. Then approximately an hour was devoted to comments from the floor by PCA, ACA, SWPCA members and many who have written for Film & History. Ken Dvorak (San Jacinto CC), President-Elect of the American Culture Association, acted as Chair of the session and contributed his own reflections of his creative relationship with the honored scholar.

On Saturday afternoon, the Southwest PCA delivered a surprise award consisting of three Lucite towers to Peter Rollins as Founder and now Emeritus Counselor to the organization. This award is pictured in this introduction and was quite a surprise for the recipient—who wondered if this ice-like device was a way of telling him to remain in retirement, allowing Phil Heldrich and Ken Dvorak to keep the regional going under a new, more laid-back administration.

All we can say to our colleagues and friends is "Many thanks!" Those curious about these events are urged to tap into the video (for broadband users, only) or audio (for phone line users) that will soon be available. Since these features are still in the formative stages, it is best to start at the Film & History web site and click from there. [End Page 7]

Special Thanks to Special People

All of us on the Film & History "staff" work mightily to balance our personal teaching and research agendas with service to this worthy publication. Some individuals stand out for their efforts. Deborah Carmichael, an Associate Editor, has been vigilant and timely with her efforts, often driving through burning sun and torrential storm to complete her work with the journal. In recognition of her work as Special Editor of the two issues on The West, she was invited to speak at the National Museum of Australia and supported by the Australian government for the trip and the stay; she came back brimming with cross-cultural observations concerning perceptions of the frontier. Robert J. Fyne is a most reliable and scrupulous Book Review Editor who cares about details and, when we do not intervene to create errors, completes his book review section in a timely and polished manner. We want to give special thanks to Samuel A. Chambers (U of Redlands) for his work on film reviews for this issue; Sam was a contributor to our book efforts as well and we appreciate his involvement. Finally, Susan Rollins has interposed herself in the conference plans for Dallas to take stress off the E-I-C; for the many hours of labor by her we are most grateful. Anyone who has communicated with us knows how ready Susan has been to get back to participants with information and decisions. Indeed, Susan and Deborah Carmichael made a site visit to Dallas/Ft. Worth before we selected the Dolce Center; we are sure that their enthusiasm for the venue will be shared by all who attend.

Health Note on the E-I-C

Many friends have asked about the health condition of the Editor-in-Chief. He exercises daily for a full hour, sleeps an hour each day, and has reduced his stress in various ways. On a ten-point scale, with 1 being the best score, he is at a 2 or 3. He is still waiting to emerge from the shadow of caution defined by the cardiologist, but is pleased by the progress and grateful for all the notes of good wishes and concerns from the many friends out there in the land of film and history studies.