Comments on: “Corianton”: Genealogy of a Mormon Phenomenon

By: Bill MacKinnon

Bill MacKinnon — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 22:07:21 +0000

Margaret,
Your wish for an “audio stream” reminds me that papers delivered at the MHA-Salt Lake conference last month were recorded and that an audio CD can be ordered through MHA’s website (www.mhahome.org). Sooo, it is possible to heard Ardis’s incomparable delivery of a very funny as well as thoughtful paper re “Corianton.” Now, if only we could hear what Orestes Utah Bean sounded like…

By: Margaret Young

Margaret Young — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 19:48:34 +0000

I just have to say that I heard Ardis deliver this, and it was a HOOT! I was concerned that I was making a spectacle of myself by my loud laughter. I wish there could be an audio stream with this, because Ardis has an inimitable style. I’m thrilled to see a portion of the article in print.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 15:21:14 +0000

A nicely done article. I was especially impressed that I wasn’t able to find the term “wayward” in the entire article–it seems like the word usually crops up in any discussion of Corianton.

By: Jack

Jack — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 02:18:02 +0000

Wow, that’s quite a sobering story–humorous as it is. It’s sad to consider the reality of most LDS artists (and their works) being forgotten within a generation or two.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 23:58:56 +0000

“He thought it might have been an Elks Club initiation, he said, but the Elks denied this, ‘saying that [they] would not
require anything so rough.’”

Classic. Thanks Ardis!

By: DKL

DKL — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 23:57:25 +0000

Great piece, Ardis. I really enjoyed hearing it at the MHA conference, and I’m glad it’s online now.

By: Jonathan Green

Jonathan Green — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:37:13 +0000

I for one am heartbroken at the continued failure of Mormon audiences to support cinematic works of the highest artistic aspirations. This just confirms what I have always thought about the hopeless state of the Mormon arts, ever since Deseret Book declined to publish my 12-volume collection of Mormon-themed haiku.

By: Bill MacKinnon

Bill MacKinnon — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 20:47:07 +0000

Dear T.&S.ers,
You should have seen Ardis in action delivering this paper, and, yes, at MHA to boot! Her timing, gestures, and inflection were superb, but the audience never quuite recovered from her entry into the meeting room aboard a medium-sized Indian elephant. Her exquisite cape and bangles — handcrafted in Panguitch of the WWI era — boggled the mind as did the gentleman seated on a cushion gently strumming a medieval Persian stringed instrument to serve up dolcet background music for this landmark paper. It was inclear whether the audience’s insistent cries of “Author! Author!” ran to Ardis and her paper or to the original creation of O.U. Bean, Esq. No doubt both deserve high praise…
/s/ Witness

By: Lupita

Lupita — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 20:29:32 +0000

Thanks, Ardis. Fascinating stuff. May this be the final word for those who consider “God’s Army” as the first Mormon movie. :)

By: Kaimi Wenger

Kaimi Wenger — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 19:52:01 +0000

Ardis,

And at MHA, too! :)

John,

Hmm — I wonder if that’s why one of the characters in Ender’s Game is named Bean?

Mark IV,

I’m thinking we need to launch a new group blog titled “Bunny Welden’s Greenwich Dancers.” (Because at this point, it’s probably too late to rename “Times and Seasons.”)

Oh, and Ardis, if you ever feel the need to research really boring, modern securities-law affidavits (instead of fun old Mormon-history affidavits) just let me know. I consider myself something of an expert in the field . . .