What involves being a hostess? How long will you be gone? I am so jealous!!! Have fun.

Karen: You just have to be able to serve drinks & smile! Seriously, just someone to monitor the Board & make sure none of the posters go out of bounds, propriety-wise. This is so far the most civil Board I've been involved in, so I don't anticipate any problems. As the Narrator says in Disney's HAUNTED MANSION: "Any volunteers?"

Here's a little guideline on hosting: Help for Forum Hosts Why are you a Forum Host? You may have chosen this job, but more likely it came looking for you. You may be an online conferencing veteran, but chances are this stuff is as new to you as your potential audience. That's OK...this guide will provide the needed tips to maintain a comfortable and stimulating environment for your forum participants. The duties of the host can vary from forum maintenance (creating/deleting topics, modifying user lists) to initiating new discussion threads to answering participant email. Whatever the task, keep in mind that the main role of a forum host is to encourage and nurture creative interaction between people with divergent views of a common goal. Hostly Powers Part of the host job description includes some basic housekeeping skills for keeping a tidy and efficient forum by maintaining topics. As a host, certain powers and responsibilties are yours alone. A forum host can perform the following: Create the first topic in the forum (no one else can) Kill any topic in the forum Retire any topic in the forum Modify the forum header Modify the welcome message (displayed when joining for the first time) Modify the bulletin message (displayed once for everyone when changed) Modify the private forum user participation list (ulist) Hostly Duties A truly effective host should be motivated to do more than just the basic janitorial functions. The process of online conferencing can be a stimulating one if care and attention are paid to creating a special place for people to congregate. A conscientious forum host should: Monitor topic discussions Maintain important discussion threads Introduce new discussion threads Archive/kill dead topics Respond to participant comments/suggestions Most of all and most important: A host(ess) should have fun!

Amy, If Karen doesn't want the job, I'll certainly fill in for you while your gone. Let me know. Lori

By the way, there lots of other conferences on the Spring looking for host(ess)s if anyones interested (eg. books, movies, tv, and more),

Lori, you're IT!!! If Karen would like, she can act as fabulous co-host. I have every confidence this board will be kept in tip-top shape in my absence. Especially with Terry around. As I said, everyone has been just great in the courtesy department -- the best I've seen so far on the Net. The general inclinations of people who love literature seems to be to want to kill one another (at least on the e-mail lists) & I'm trying to figure out why. But we are a shining example of what can go RIGHT on the Web! Thanks again.

I'm thrilled to provide the service. I'm so excited for you! I am going to Paris in December and I am hoping to take the Chunnel over to England while I'm there. Don't know if I'll get very much father than London though! :o) Lori

Ah Paris! I wish I had time to go. I could spend about a week in the Louvre & on the Place de la Concorde! I may also be combining my Haworth trip with a jaunt to Munich, since my company may send me to check up on our German office. So Lori, please prepare to play Vanna for about 12 days. Thanks so much! If I can, I'll try to net in from England for "on the spot" reports. amy

Well gang, this is my last post to the Board for now -- I am catching a plane for Haworth in just a few hours!!! Lori, thanks for agreeing to play Gracious Hostess in my absence. I intend to come back laden with pictures, videos, videos of the new JE & WILDFELL HALL, books -- you name it!! I will try to post some of my pictures to this board too. Have fun while I'm gone, & I will talk to you all again after 10/10 (unless I can wire in from my company's Munich office earlier). Elena, I will think of y u when I visit Emily's grave. Farewell!!!

Hi -- Amy here, posting from my company's office in Munich! Well, I have come & gone from Haworth, & it was truly incredible! I saw the Parsonage; the Church where Charlotte & Emily are buried; Anne's grave at Scarborough; what's left of Cowan Bridge & the Church the girls were forced to trudge 4 miles to every Sunday; Roe-Head, which is now a school for the disabled; and the Red House in Gomersal, where Mary Taylor lived. Of course, I took a million pictures, & I hope to post them to the Board when I et back to the States next week. I was most impressed with the Parsonage, which has been preserved in a beautiful state, AND: I GOT TO SEE THE ORIGINAL MSS. OF JANE EYRE, which happened to be on exhibition there. The page was turned to Rochester's proposal, and though the light was dim to protect the fragile mss., I read -every word.- ALSO, the original of Mrs. Gaskell's LIFE was in the same room, so this was absolutely the highlight for me. Elena, I did say 'hello' to Emily for you, on the moors & at her grave. I will report more at length when I get back! Amy in Munich

Amy, thank you. That really means a lot to me. While I enjoy literature and many writers, I try never to fall into the trap of confusing the writer and their work. My favorite poet (or at least one I love as much as Emily, Emily Dickenson and Christina Rosetti) is A E Housman. But while I love and admire his work, I don't particularly like Housman as a person, however highly I regard his poetry. There are many writers I am curious about, even fascinated by, but it is their work that entrances me, not they themselves. Emily is different. I'm not a hero worshipper. I don't seek to submerge myself in idealised personalities, either historical or contemporary. But there is in her very nature, in the brief but marked impression she left on the few that knew her, that inspires my admiration in the most profound degree. The idea I have formed of her has had as much impact on my mind as WH has. Someone who was so proudly defiant of convention, so courageous, and of such personal integrity. "I wish to be as God made me". "No coward soul is mine". This, combined with extraordinary vision and ability, still amazes me. Stevie Davies said that people had a tendency to imagine that they were in "love" with Emily - the lack of material and her youthful death have made her susceptible to people's fantasies. More than that, she said people tended to make the strage remark "sometimes I think I am Emily Bronte". Davies herself does not feel that she identifies with and understands Emily as others feel they do - as she puts it, "she eludes me". This is after having written several books on Emily. I think Emily always eludes in the end. I hope this is not too effusive. But thank you once more, Amy. I hope this gives you some impression of what it means to me to have someone stand at her grave and give me a thought.

Certainly, Elena. I have the same warmth of feeling around Charlotte. I feel that I relate to her, I understand her, & I will defend her to the best of my ability. I recognize that she was a flawed human being, but I think she did the best she could under the trying circumstances of her life. And I DO think that through it all, she tried to maintained a sense of humour despite her high-strung nature. It meant a great deal to me to see the original of JANE EYRE & the grave where Charlotte & Emily are uried.

I'm glad that you enjoyed your trip to Haworth...I went for the second time at the end of August. I managed to drag my boyfriend round the Bronte Parsonage and he ( for someone who hates all period writing ) really enjoyed it. I love Haworth...you really begin to see where some of their inspiration comes from. It is such an atmospheric place!

Yes, the moors in back of the Parsonage are just amazing, esp. in September when the heather is still in bloom! They've really done a fine job of preserving the Parsonage in period condition, down to finding the original dining room table where the great novels were written; displaying Charlotte's clothing, spectacles, & wedding veil; Emily & Anne's wonderful drawings of their pets, etc. I was especially thrilled that they were displaying the original Mss. of JANE EYRE & Mrs. Gaskell's LIFE while I was here!

I haven't asked yet - did you get to Top Withens? Alexandra, have you been there?

Elena: I got as far as the Meeting of the Waters. I couldn't make it to Top Withins, because I had broken my ankle inMay & it wasn't up to the trip. The other places I saw while in Yorkshire were: Cowan Bridge. Basis for the infamous Lowood School in JE. The only thing left is a single structure -- Tim & I walked the 2 miles to the church where Carus Wilson preached & the girls were forced to go every Sunday -- it was a narrow, tortuous path & must have been hellish in bad weather. We also went to Roe Head in Mirfield, which looks -exactly- as it did in Charlotte's drawings! It hasn't changed at all. A nice Security Guard let us inside -- it's now a school for disabled children. Very Victorian! Went To Scarborough to visit St. Mary's Church and Anne's grave -- it's beautifully kept up, with beds of flowers planted on the plot; the Bronte Society does this, & leaves sprigs of heather (Anne's favorite) there as well. Visited the Red House in Gomersal, Mary Taylor's home which now houses a Museum; and of course went to the Parsonage twice -- they've now bought the original parlour dining room table where the Brontes actually composed their novels. The other articles that impressed me were Charlotte's dresses (she was -very- small); her spectacles; wedding veil; and the wonderful drawnings of Keeper & Flossy by Anne & Emily. The most amazing thing here was of course the presence of the original Mss.s of both JANE EYRE & Mrs. Gaskell's LIFE. Wow! I paid my respects to Charlotte, Emily & c. at the Haworth Church - they are all buried under the church aisle with just 2 simple memorial plaques on the ground for Charlotte & for Emily. I do have pictures of all these sites & a scanner -- if someone can tell me HOW to post them to this site, I will be more than happy to do so!

It always struck me that Emily would have so hated to be buried there, even if it was with her family. She resisted conventional religion so fiercely, even refusing to teach in Sunday school. Then, finally, she was shut in forever.

It is pretty grim, I have to say, compared to Anne's grave, which is planted with beautiful flowers & overlooks the sea in Scarborough. Still, I like to think that Emily & Charlotte should be together, despite their differences...

Anne got away, at least. But how sad to be so far from her sisters. And Emily? How does it run..."They may bury me six feet deep, and throw the church down over me, but I won't rest until you are beseide me...I never will." Along those lines anyway. Amy, is there a statue of the Bronte sisters at Haworth? I seem to remember seeing one in the background during an interview on a Program about them. The three of them, slightly modernistic, very rounded forms?

Yes, Elena, there is, & I have to say, it's rather ugly -- I didn't like it at all. Charlotte looks nothing like herself & Anne is in a strange position. Only Emily kind of looks like Emily... I forgot to mention some other Bronte sights I saw!! I saw Branwell's original "Pillar Portrait" of the sisters at the National Portrait Gallery, along with the fragment painting of Emily; and I saw the Bronte's birthplace in Thornton, which is very hard to find, let me tell you!! I think the only substantial thing I missed was Rydings, Ellen Nussey's place, but you can't do it all in a week. All things considered, I'm glad I got to see as much as I did!

Amy, did you get to Thorp Green?

Mick: I did!!! As you of course know, there's not too much left of the original house -- we spent most of our time in the church, which is in an apalling state -- they're in the process of trying to raise money to restore it. I was really struck by the sight of the bridge which Anne drew so wonderfully. All in all, I was impressed with the grandeur of the place -- I hadn't realized that the Robinsons were quite so rich -- very Pemberley-like!

Hi Amy I've read the responses to your visit to Haworth. Your whole trip sounds like a lot of fun. (No-one has said anything since last october.) Well, I went to the parsonage yesterday. The JE mss wasn't there and they couldn't tell me whether or not it will be on display at the British library. I suspect the joy of seeing it at the parsonage is quite different to seeing it at a library. Still, I had a few "moments" at the parsonage. I was rushed out at the end having got there quite late in the day. I'm sure I'll go back very soon. I saw some diary books belonging to Anne and Emily. What fun they are to read. No-one on the Bronte mailing list could tell me if they are in print at all. I would like to read them if possible. Can you help? Mamie PS did you get to Oakwell Hall when you were here?

Dear Mamie: All of the excerpts from Anne & Emily's diary papers are reprinted in MARGARET SMITH'S LETTERS OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE, and I'm sure they're in the new Juliet Barker LETTERS volumnes as well. Sadly, there really aren't very many of them, since they were written on (I believe) Emily's birthday every 4 years & were not started until quite late. . . I didn't make it to Oakwell Hall, but hit a lot of the Bronte sites: Cowan Bridge (the infamous Lowood from JE), Mary Taylor's Red House in Gomersal, Roe Head school, Thorp Green, & the Parsonage & Church of course. Did you get a chance to walk across the moors? I was there just as the last heather was blooming purple, but I couldn't walk that far, because I was recovering from a broken leg!! amy

Hi Amy A couple of weeks ago I and some friends walked across the moors from Hebden Bridge to Haworth. It was a distance of 15 miles and we had wonderful weather (unlike west yorks at this time of year!!). We dropped down onto Haworth moors arriving at Top Withens from the opposite direction. A group of rowdy teenagers was there but we stopped a little further down, I think at the site of middle withins. I walked to Top Withins from the parsonage last Xmas on a cold but sunny day when there was snow on the ground. There was no-one around and for some reason I got a little spooked!! As I arrived at Top Withins the weather changed and suddenly got much colder. The sky turned very grey, it had been quite bright before that. When I saw the film (Wuthering Heights - the one with Juliet Binoche and Ralph Fiennes) I was reminded of this. Do you know the scene I mean? Very Strange Indeed. Mamie PS Thanks for the info on the diary books. Hope your leg mended OK. Do you have any plans for coming over again?

Dear Mamie: I couldn't make it to Top Withins from the Parsonage because of my leg. Thanks, it has all healed now and I am OK! I'm sure I will be in England again this year, since my husband is English! I'd love to revisit the Parsonage, since he & I got engaged at Haworth! amy ==

Hi Amy I think that is so romantic. Is he as interested in the Brontes as you are? Mamie

Oh yes. My Tim is a big Anne fan, and "my" Bronte is Charlotte. We are able to co-exist peacefully, though. . .

I was just visiting a web page for Thornton and the regency row home where Patrick and Maria Bronte lived before moving on to Haworth. It will be open to visitors on Saturday afternoons starting in May of 1998, and also may be rented out during the summer months, by the week! This sounds very interesting.

I just finish reading Shirley. I really enjoyed the book. I recommend this book.

I forgot to mention that I also visited the Bronte birthplace in Thornton! Where Elizabeth, Maria, Charlotte & Branwell were born. It was extremely hard to find, but worth it.

As a member of the Bronte Society I have been invited to sort of a sneak preview of the Bronte Birthplace. I hope to go this weekend. The house should be open to the public with an admission charge in May. If they are renting the house out maybe someone on the conference should rent it and we could all meet up!! Mamie

It was really a treat to see that house, but very difficult to find. My husband Tim and I walked all over until a kindly local steered us the right way.

I'm also planning to go to Haworth in June this year. I'll be in England for only 3 days. Any suggestions on the best way I can spend the time. Is it worthwhile going to the moors? I think it is, but I still need your opinions. Thank you.