Dr. Mark Vonnegut: East of Eden Express

Below, Indianapolis reporter Jim Walker did a nice job conveying Mark Vonnegut's emotional speech that his father was supposed to deliver at Butler University.

Here is a link and excerpt:

Mark Vonnegut, who joked that he sometimes channels his father, Kurt Vonnegut, delivered an emotional and pointed stand-up routine Friday night, reinforcing the legacy of the venerable Hoosier author.

"It's Spooky": Mark Vonnegut gave a speech written by his father, Kurt Vonnegut, weeks before his death, and said he felt his dad knew it would turn out that way. "He doesn't usually work this far ahead. And, the next day after he wrote it, he wrote instructions for me."

A speech, written by Kurt Vonnegut just weeks before his death on April 11 at age 84, was presented by Vonnegut's son to an enthusiastic crowd of 1,078 people in Butler University's Clowes Memorial Hall.
The author's words took a variety of swipes, from President Bush to IUPUI's initial-filled name to writers using unnecessary semicolons.
Kurt Vonnegut even poked fun in the speech at his own mortality: "I'm suing the makers of Pall Mall cigarettes for breach of promise because they did not kill me," he wrote.
But the speech of the often-sardonic author of "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Breakfast of Champions" also revealed his love for Indianapolis, his family, jazz -- calling it "safe sex of the highest order" -- and a fellow Indianapolis writer, Booth Tarkington, who died in 1946.
"His nickname is one that I would have given anything to have: 'The Gentleman from Indiana,' " Mark Vonnegut, a pediatrician from Milton, Mass., read, fighting back tears in one of several emotional moments of the evening.
Kurt Vonnegut's speech also expressed concerns about the environment and praised the accomplishments of black Americans despite the burden of racism.
After finishing the 30-minute routine, Mark Vonnegut chatted with the audience for a few minutes.
Then, he said he felt his father knew who would deliver the speech. "It's spooky. He doesn't usually work this far ahead," he said. "And, the next day after he wrote it, he wrote instructions for me."