Great Period Piece!

The Alienst

Strange bedfellows

Sometimes God Throws You A Bone

Mario Pei

I needed one more class to fulfill the course requirements for my Masters, but I couldn't find anything to fit into my busy business schedule. A last-minute cancellation gave me an opening for a Saturday 8AM linguistics seminar; it's sounded excruciatingly boring, but I had no choice.
Surprise #1 - the course was hosted by Mario Pei, world renowned linguist doing a guest shot from Harvard.

Miriam Makeba

Surprise #2 - Pei was a shy showman, fluent in half a dozen languages, able to converse in a hundred others, so magnetic and engrossing he could've easily done a TV talk show guest shot.During one lecture the affable native Italian segued into African dialects, complete with throat clicks and glottal stops. He produced a turntable and album, and spun us Miriam Makeba and her incredible 'Click' song; halfway through he joined her, karaoke style, and brought the house down! Africa and its history opened up to the class.

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