Wow.  I got to eat a very personal, private dinner with the author of our text book.  There were an additional nine college professors, and the woman who sent the invitations.  It was an incredible pleasure to sit with him.  My students gave me a list of questions to ask the author.  He was a liberal New Yorker, with a jagged outlook.  He was a lot of fun to talk to, to bounce ideas off of, and to spend an evening.  The guy is very sharp and very interesting.  As he got comfortable with me, he took to punching me in the arm.