In December 2006, Former College President Maggie O\u2019Brien and English Professor Ben Click were discussing Click\u2019s upcoming seminar on Twain and a recent biography, \u201cMark Twain: A Life\u201d by Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy award-winning journalist and Twain biographer Ron Powers. O\u2019Brien said, \u201cI know him. Do you want to bring him here? I\u2019ll fund it.\u201d That conversation started the Twain Lecture Series. On March 2, 2007, Powers delivered \u201cMark Twain: Making Him Fresh Again,\u201d to a packed house in Auerbach Auditorium of St. Mary\u2019s Hall. The overwhelming response signaled one thing: the College and community needed an annual lecture dedicated to humor.<\/p>\n
In addition to 15 annual Twain Lectures, the series has sponsored over 50 other events including \u201cMusic and Truth\u201d and \u201cLaughing to the Polls,\u201d several writer\u2019s talks, student writing and art contests, and numerous Twain talks given by Director Ben Click at places ranging from local libraries and schools to the Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery. The success of the Twain series brings a large and diverse audience to St. Mary\u2019s College, with the annual lecture drawing its broad audience from community members, college and high school students, St. Mary\u2019s faculty and alums, and residents who travel from Baltimore, D.C., and further.<\/p>\n
Many groups have contributed to the Twain Lecture Series over the years. The Student Government Association (SGA) has consistently contributed financial support, but equally important are the energy and drive of its student representatives in promoting the annual lecture within the St. Mary\u2019s College community. The Arts Alliance, The Lecture and Fine Arts Program, the English Department, and the Center for the Study of Democracy have been supporters since 2008.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In December 2006, Former College President Maggie O\u2019Brien and English Professor Ben Click were discussing Click\u2019s upcoming seminar on Twain and a recent biography, \u201cMark Twain: A Life\u201d by Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy award-winning journalist and Twain biographer Ron Powers. O\u2019Brien said, \u201cI know him. Do you want to bring him here? I\u2019ll fund it.\u201d Find out more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"special-event-page.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-12048","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/annual-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/annual-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/annual-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/annual-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/annual-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12048"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/annual-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12632,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/annual-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12048\/revisions\/12632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/annual-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}