re: You wouldn't have ruined the surprise...
I'm sure it would've been a surpise no matter how you learned it, but it's certainly fitting that JMS got to tell you himself. He told the tale well, too...I had a vague impression that the form resembled a setup story, but I kept saying to myself, "nah, couldn't be"...till he hit us all with the punchline. Good teachers are good story tellers, and have been since humans learned speech. I can see why JMS had such a profound effect on you.