On 17 June 2008 I gave a talk at the Boston Athenaeum on my book, The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein (2001).  The turnout was good — from 80 to 100 people. Wine and cheese were served afterwards. The talk was recorded and broadcast by WGBH television.  To wateh it click here.  (Before the video starts playing, the mp4 file needs to download, which may take a couple of minutes or more, depending on the speed of your internet connection.  Be patient.)
    I had a struggle to speak, as I was suffering from laryngitis.  At one point I erroneously cited Mark Twain's essay as “In Defence of Mary Shelley”, when I meant to say, “In Defence of Harriet Shelley”.  During the discussion period, I neglected to repeat the questions before responding to them.  Since the questions were inaudible on the recording, the WGBH engineers deleted them, with the result that my responses run from one to another, without the intervening questions that prompted them.  For example, one woman asked who Donald Reiman was, and I answered her question — charitably, I believe.

        — John Lauritsen


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