Int'l Congress of Slavists

[Michael K. Launer]

Dear Prof. Flier--

I appreciate your response. The fact of the matter is, I had no intention
or desire to participate in this particular conference. Had the situation
been otherwise, I would have surely followed the appropriate procedures. I
said, and I meant, "Nothing personal, of course." Nevertheless, over the
years the history of selecting participants in these conferences has been
pretty shoddy, and, as a former member of the faculty at UCLA, you surely
know exactly what/whom I had in mind. And yes, the "complexities of
selecting an American delegation for the International Congress of
Slavists, beginning with the call for papers and ending with the
publication of *American Contributions*" were all in place for most of
those conferences as well. It's just that nobody really cared about quality
if the correct name appeared on the title page underneath the title itself.
If I unfairly impugned the integrity of the "editors and the other members
of . . . [this] . . . American Committee of Slavists," please accept my
apologies. Nonetheless, I believe my remarks were well taken and well
founded. Nothing you can say about this particular committee will remove
the facts of the past.

Sincerely,

Michael Launer