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Mark Twain Country ...

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:52 pm
by manfredvijars
Florida and Hannibal Missouri (the birthplace and childhood town of Sam Clemens) was a highlight of my trip. Neil posted my article and some pics in the current magazine. I thought you may be interested in the 'colour' versions ...

Enjoy .... :)

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) was the sixth of seven children born to John and Jane Clemens on the 30th November, 1835 in the village of Florida, Munroe County, Missouri. Florida sits about two and a half hours North of Saint Louis and half an hour's drive (35 miles) from Hannibal where he grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Re: Mark Twain Country ...

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 6:21 pm
by william williams
Thank you Manfred I gather you had a great time

BILL WILLIAMS

Re: Mark Twain Country ...

Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 6:37 pm
by manfredvijars
Thanks Bill, yes I did. They love this bloke so much that there are in fact NINE Mark Twain National Forests in Missouri. could get confusing if you've arranged a camping trip with some out of state mates ....

Re: Mark Twain Country ...

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 6:16 am
by Stephen Whiteside
These are fabulous, Manfred. Mark Twain is absolutely one of my all-time favourite writers. Thank you very much for posting them.

(Would it be too much trouble if I asked you to get some photos of Robert Service's cabin in Dawson City the next time you're in North America?)

Re: Mark Twain Country ...

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 6:28 am
by Stephen Whiteside
I've read a fair bit about the life of Mark Twain, but only a cluster of images remain.

He watched his father's post mortem examination unobserved through a key-hole.

His childhood ambition was to become a riverboat captain, and he may well have achieved that, instead of becoming a writer, if not for the intervention of the American Civil War.

The war quickly put an end to the riverboat trade.

Clemens' own war record is something of a mystery. It seems he spent about a week in active service before turning up in a silver-mining town on the west coast. After a failed suicide attempt, he began writing for the local paper.

Clemens' talked his younger brother into joining the river boats, too. Sadly, he was burnt to death in a fire on a paddle steamer, something that haunted Clemens for the rest of his life.

If you haven't done so already, read the first hundred pages of "Life on the Mississippi". He talks about his life as an apprentice paddle steamer captain. Pure gold...

Clemens had three daughters, and no sons. One daughter died of meningitis aged about 18. Another suffered from epilepsy, and drowned while having a fit in the bath aged about 30. The third married, but became estranged from him. She moved to Europe, and broke off all communications with him.

So many great writers have such sad personal lives...

Re: Mark Twain Country ...

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:30 am
by Vic Jefferies
Mark Twain is still one of the best selling authors in the USA.

Re: Mark Twain Country ...

Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:07 am
by Stephen Whiteside
There is an interesting piece in his autobiography recalling his one meeting with R. L. Stevenson. They were discussing fame, and the broad, deep seated fame - fame that had seeped deeply into international culture - that they both enjoyed.