it is a sincere pleasure for me to welcome laura dassow walls to charlottesville and the virginia festival of books to choose the john h. chair at the university of south carolina. she received her bachelors and masters degree in english from washington university and her phd in american literature from indiana university. she has just been named a recipient of the male kirby award for the best book in american intellectual history by the organization of american historians, specifically for passage to cosmos is due to receive the award next month. so please welcome professor walls and also please turn off your cell phone. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much and thank you joe for that introduction and diabetes will for your wonderful hospitality during my visit here and it's absolutely beautiful part of the nation. i've always wanted to come here and here again, it's a delight. i also want to thank the urging of the festival in the virginia institute for humanities, was it? foundation for the humanities. these events are crucial for keeping culture alive in our country, especially