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Biography of Mark Twain
April 25th, 2011 | admin
SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS, known and celebrated as “Mark Twain,” was born in Florida, on November 30; 1835. He was one of the most famous and has been likened as one of the most effective American writers this country has produced. He was not only an American writer but he was also a famous journalist, and humorist.
His has such magic in his writing that he won a worldwide audience in such a short time period for his stories of youthful adventures. Twain enjoyed immense popularity. He was the person who introduced the concept of colloquial speech into American fiction.
EARLY LIFE
John Marshall Clemens, Father of Mark Twain was a lawyer by profession .John Marshall Clemens shifted his household from James town to Florida. Florida was a small town, hardly a village of 20 houses located on Salt River. John established a small business there and after five months he blessed with a son, he named him Samuel, a family name, and added Langhorne, after an old Virginia friend of his father. He was sixth of seven and only three survived childhood. He was a very intelligent student but his schooling was brief and of a desultory kind and ended when Twain was just 11 when his father died of pneumonia. As they were not economically strong all of them have to contribute some in order to survive. His brother, Orion who was just ten year elder was already a printer by trade, and then in 1851 Mark Twain began working as typesetter and contributor of articles for the Hannibal Journal, a newspaper owned by his brother Orion. At the age of 18 he left Hannibal and start working as a printer in Newyork city. On a voyage to New Orleans, he continues his career as a steamboat pilot as it was a rich occupation and his wage was set to be 0/month.
TRAVELS
Twain and Orion travelled for more than two weeks across Rocky Mountains, visiting the Mormon community. Twain’s journey ended in the silver-mining, where he became a miner. But he failed as a miner and found work at a Virginia City newspaper. It was here that he first used his famous pen name “Mark Twain”. Twain also lecture in the United States and England.. In 1864 he moved to San Francisco where he continued working as a journalist. Here he met writers such as Artemus Ward and Dan DeQuille.As a writer he became famous after “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, was published. Between 1876 and 1884 he published several masterpieces.
Marriage and children
Twain was married with Charles Langdon’s sister Olivia, Twain fell in love at first sight and a year later they were engaged and married in February 1870 in, New York. Olivia gave birth to four children one died with in few months after birth. Olivia died on 1904.
DEATH
The death of his daughter JEAN bought him in sorrow. His heart was serious effected by the news of his daughter`s death and on April 21, 1910 he also died.
Dennis is a Mark Twain fan. He has read several Mark Twain’s books like A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He would like to share his fun of reading Mark Twain’s top selling novels to the public.
Get complete set of Mark Twain’s best selling books at The Mark Twain Classical Ebook Collection.
Article from articlesbase.com
Clip from the Adventures of Mark Twain, an old claymation from 1984. Creepy, and this was a children’s show no less.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Polemical writings of Twain, Goldman and Van Doren
April 22nd, 2011 | admin
Part 9 of my review of Christopher Hitchens’ ‘The Portable Atheist’. I briefly review the writings of Mark Twain, Emma Goldman and Carl Van Doren. Thanks for listening.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
WritingAlchemy.com Writing Tips on using dialogue effective…advice from Mark Twain. “Writing in Five” is a series of audios and videos designed to help fiction and memoir writers with their craft. Visit http for more tips and information about the new book Writing Alchemy. Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler draw these “Writing in Five” lessons from books by masters they have reviewed in the process of working on their book, Writing Alchemy. Each “Writing in Five” explores a single concept, a nugget that will give you a new perspective as you improve your writing.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
Novel “After the Bones” Reimagines Twain’s Time in Hawaii
April 19th, 2011 | admin
Novel “After the Bones” Reimagines Twain’s Time in Hawaii . Honolulu, HI (PRWEB) June 14, 2006
“After the Bones”, a novel by Mark Hazard Osmun, is being released today by Twelfth Night Press. The novel is a tale of historical intrigue, conspiracy, murder, mysticism and deception centered around a plot to overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy of 1866 and follows the chronology of Mark Twain’s visit to the islands during that year. The writing is lyrical and evocative.
In “After the Bones”, two actors, Mac Ducain and Delaware Flinn, both wrongly implicated in the Lincoln assassination, flee to Hawai`i, hoping to hide in that “foreign kingdom.” Instead, they find themselves drawn ever deeper into political conspiracies—manipulated by a master British assassin—as they try to evade American authorities. Influencing the course of events is mana, the mystical strength emanating from the bones of the first King Kamehameha.
“After the Bones” presents a balanced blend of action, romance, intrigue and the supernatural while probing the human struggle to overcome doubt and distrust and take the proverbial great leap of faith. It also is an homage to a Hawaiian culture struggling for survival then as now.
The novel marks the first partnership between Twelfth Night Press and the rapidly-growing print-on-demand distributor, Lulu.com. AFTER THE BONES is available via two web sites: http://www.lulu.com/MarkOsmun and http://www.markosmun.com.
Mark Hazard Osmun is the author of “Marley’s Ghost,” “The Honolulu Marathon,” and “After the Bones.”
“After the Bones”: 363-page trade paperback. ISBN 0-9673079-1-0. Retail: $ 16.95.
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Mark Twain’s Mississippi, 1800-1900: Economic Development, 1800-1850
April 18th, 2011 | admin
This video concerning the topic of Economic Development, 1800-1850, comes from the Mark Twain’s Mississippi website (dig.lib.niu.edu which is a creation of Northern Illinois University Libraries’ Digital Initiatives Unit: www.ulib.niu.edu The Mark Twain’s Mississippi site provides a fully searchable and indexed digital library of some of Samuel Clemens’ publications under the name of Mark Twain, placing special emphasis upon Twain’s Mississippi novels and reminiscences (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi).
These works serve as lenses through which the public may explore additional text, image and sound materials, drawn from the participating libraries, describing the Mississippi Valley that Mark Twain remembered and imagined in writing his classic works of literature. Combined with Twain’s works and original interpretive essays written by consulting scholars, these materials illuminate important aspects and themes in the society and culture of the Mississippi valley in the period 1830-1890.
These themes include Twain’s on-going discussion of the course of Americans’ western settlement and their conflicts with Native Americans; the emergence of a new American economic order, replacing Twain’s world of villages and steamboats with railroads and factories, the emergence of genteel culture and westerners’ reactions to and interpretations of it; and the saga of America’s sectional crisis, Civil War, and Reconstruction …
Video Rating: 0 / 5
Has the Distinctive and Legendary Writing Style of Mark Twain Been Rediscovered in Capitaland?
April 17th, 2011 | admin
Standing amongst a backdrop of Easter flower blossoms in this northeastern city on the Hudson, author J. Peter Yakel takes a moment to reflect on comments that his magnum opus, “The Legend of Juggin Joe”, is akin to the writing style of American literary giant, Mark Twain.
With a smile, the self-published author says, “Whilst I have been known on occasion to farcically opine that my book, “The Legend of Juggin Joe”, may well be an up-and-coming book classic, I never had the gumption to place myself on a pedestal with the likes of Mark Twain. Still, considering the excellent reviews that Juggin Joe has received since its release, I’m flattered and humbly agreeable to the comparisons made between the two of us.
Yakel proffers, “Sure, Twain and I share a handful of similarities, such as our keen wit and humor, public popularity, and the fact that the highly specialized dialects of our storytelling, totally captivates readers. This last aspect, I might add, was the source of much jealousy among a number of writers and cultural elitist’s in Twain’s day, though as yet, I haven’t been ‘blessed’ by such discord in my own right…”
“The characters in my book, especially the main character, Juggin Joe, lead fascinating lives, portrayed with color and vitality, just like Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Once you pick up this short tale, you’re hard-pressed to put it down until you’ve reached the back cover. Such is the allure of Juggin Joe”, says Capitaland’s Favorite Author.
“A list of Juggin Joe reviews is far too large for this brief discussion,” says Yakel, “but there are links to many noteworthy comments and international book reviews available on my website, http://www.lulu.com/yakel I encourage everyone to visit, and discover for themselves why my brand of writing is reshaping American literature in ways that haven’t been seen in decades.”
Yakel opines that, for some, Juggin Joe may only be a lightweight outlet for laughter, or even a grammatical nightmare. He’s fine with that. “After all, it is a humor book”, he says, and adds, “One must remember that shortly after Twain published, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in 1885, it was banned by a committee that found it unsuitable for intelligent, respectable people. Among other things, the elitists of the era couldn’t fathom Twain’s use of dialect and narration. But, of course, those fools were completely out of touch with the everyday folk, and as we all know, Twain’s book went on to transform American literature. So, here we are, 121 years later, and The Legend of Juggin Joe is once again transforming American literature in much the same way.”
How does this firebrand of a self-published author feel, having written such an inimitable literary work? “Excellent”, says Yakel, adding, “Perhaps the only ones who might feel better than me are the traditional publisher or movie director who is savvy enough to grab onto this gem before their competitors beat them to the punch. The varied interest in Juggin Joe as an audio book or movie leads me to believe it could be huge in either media market.”
The Legend of Juggin Joe (ISBN 1-4116-2588-9) is available for purchase on the world-wide-web, by logging onto: http://www.lulu.com/yakel or by visiting the following Capitaland NY stores: Borders of Colonie, Borders of Clifton Park; The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza; or I Love Books, Inc. of Delmar.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J. Peter Yakel is a freelance writer and author. In print since 1998, his writing ranges from genealogy, humor, and electronics technology, to leadership and military history. Contact the author via e-mail at: armeuv1 AT yahoo DOT com
ABOUT LULU
Founded in 2002, Lulu is the world’s fastest-growing provider of print-on-demand books for digital do-it-yourselfers. Visit http://www.lulu.com for more information.
©Copyright 1997-, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Finger Lakes Wine Country Celebrates Mark Twain Throughout 2010
April 17th, 2011 | admin
Corning, NY (Vocus) January 7, 2010
The year 2010 will mark the 175th anniversary of Twain’s birth, the Centennial of his death, and the 125th anniversary of the publishing of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Elmira, New York, also known as Mark Twain Country, will be celebrating his life with a year filled with Twain themed events and special promotions.
The following events will take place from April 21, the death date, through April 24, the day he was laid to rest at Elmira’s Woodlawn Cemetery:
Wednesday, April 21, (Death Centennial) Hal Holbrook to perform his Emmy & Tony award-winning performance of Mark Twain Tonight at Clemens Center for the Performing Arts.
Saturday, April 24, Re-enactment of Twain’s gravesite service and burial at Woodlawn Cemetery. The event will use details provided by articles from the New York Post and New York Times along with other historical sources, and will include a horse drawn carriage transporting the casket.
Wednesday, April 21 – Saturday, April 24, Trolley into Twain Country Tours Centennial Excursions, One hour guided tours that will include a stop to go inside the Mark Twain Study (where Twain penned such classics as Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn while summering in Elmira with his in-laws for 22 years) and the Clemens family burial site at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Wednesday, April 21 – Friday, April 23, Dine like Twain dinners to be offered at Hill Top Restaurant. Feast on Twain’s favorite foods while overlooking the exact same view of the Chemung River Valley that inspired him to create such beloved characters as Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn at the family home on the same hill.
April 22 & 24, Twain Notes, A theatrical reading of the personal correspondence of Samuel Clemens and those closest to him, from the time he met his beloved wife, Olivia Langdon, through his final days. Held at The Park Church, of which Twain was a member.
Saturday April 24, Tom Sawyer & Becky Thatcher Day at Harris Hill, Harris Hill, the Soaring Capital of America, welcomes Twain enthusiasts to take a glider ride over Mark Twain Country and view the Twain Exhibit at the National Soaring Museum, or join in a Tom Sawyer & Becky Thatcher in a game of putt-putt at Harris Hill Amusement Park.
Other events during in Mark Twain Country during 2010 include scenic glider, vintage plane and helicopter rides over the spectacular views that inspired the author; the dedication of a Twain hiking trail overlooking the Chemung River and complete with Twain quotes; Trolley into Twain Country Tours throughout July and August, the release of a commemorative Twain-labeled Riesling from award-winning Glenora Wine Cellars, and much, much more.
Visitors are also encouraged to pay their respects to this American Classic at Woodlawn Cemetery, enjoy a tour of the Mark Twain Study, or visit the permanent display a the Chemung Valley History Museum. A complete calendar of events can be found at http://www.MarkTwainCountry.com//Twain2010.asp.
Samuel Clemens or more notably known as Mark Twain, called many places home. While he grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, lived in Hartford, Connecticut, and Buffalo, New York, it was in Elmira, New York that America’s favorite son traveled when he sought refuge and renewal to live out his private life.
Twain married Elmiran Olivia Langdon, in a simple ceremony at the mansion of his in-laws and remained tethered to the city and his in-laws for the balance of his life. Twain was particularly close to his father-in-law, Jervis Langdon, a wealthy businessman who was actively outspoken against slavery and aggressively active in the Underground Railroad, and Jervis’ views on abolition greatly influenced Mark Twain’s writing.
Twain returned to Elmira to summer for 22 years at the home of his sister-in-law, perched in the hills overlooking the Chemung River Valley. He drew much inspiration from the spectacular views and referred to Elmira as a “foretaste of Heaven.” He sequestered himself in a tiny Study his in-laws had made for him to write his classics, such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Adventures of Tom Sawyer, among many others.
The Mark Twain Study, a gazebo-type structure that was built to resemble the top of a Mississippi steamboat, has since been moved to the campus of Elmira College where it is open to the public, and was noted by USA Today as the ‘#1 Literary Attraction in America’.
Although Twain traveled globally and laid claim to being a citizen of the world, it was in Elmira that he chose to be laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery alongside his wife and four children.
More information on Mark Twain Country and the 2010 Twain Celebration can be found at http://www.MarkTwainCountry.com and http://www.FingerLakesWineCountry.com. Finger Lakes Wine Country, New York is a world-class wine country destination that boasts excitement, affordability, and fun for everyone. Begin planning your escape to Finger Lakes Wine Country now at http://www.FingerLakesWineCountry.com. Download a free travel guide, build your own personalized itinerary, and discover your ideal vacation destination that is just down the road.
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Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
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Niemann: Would Twain have preferred to be an inventor rather than a writer?
April 16th, 2011 | admin
“Inventors are the creators of the world â “ after God.” — Mark Twain
While we’re all familiar with the writings of Mark Twain, many people don’t know that he was highly involved with inventions, both as an inventor himself and as an investor in other people’s inventions. Twain profited from some of his own inventions, but he lost a lot of money investing in other people’s inventions.
His first invention was for a vest strap that served as a collar and vest, which was designed to replace suspenders. He was granted Patent No. 122,992 in December 1871.
“The first thing you want in a new country is a patent office. A country without a patent office and good patent laws â ¦ couldn’t travel any way but sideways or backwards.” — Mark Twain
Mark Twain received two other patents during his lifetime. One was for a self-pasting scrapbook in 1873, which he named Mark Twain’s Scrapbook, and the other was in 1883 for a game called “Memory Builder.” This game made it easier to remember historical dates, but it didn’t succeed commercially.
Twain earned a fortune and gained international fame from his writings, yet there was something significant about his scrapbook invention. What was it? Read on; the answer is at the end of the story.
“We are called the nation of inventors. And we are. We could still claim that title and wear its loftiest honors if we had stopped with the first thing we invented, which was human liberty.” — Mark Twain
While Twain had profited from some of his inventions, there were other inventions that he thought of but did not commercialize. In his notebooks, Twain recorded ideas for microfilm in 1885, and for an invention that would use “pictures transferred by light,” similar to modern television, in 1888, as well as an idea for the use of fingerprinting, which was the cornerstone of the plot in his novel, Pudd’nhead Wilson, published in 1894.
Mark Twain lost more than $500,000 in his lifetime from the failed inventions in which he invested, including the Paige typesetter. But the invention that cost Twain the most was one in which he did not invest in. When Twain was approached by a man who had invented what was to become one of the most successful machines of all time with the opportunity to invest in it, Twain responding by telling him that he wasn’t interested because he had been burned once too often on inventions.
As the man was walking away, Twain asked him his name. “Bell,” he replied, as in Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone.
What was the significance of the scrapbook that Twain invented? He earned more money from it than he did from his writings that year. Mark Twain was a moderately successful inventor; without the recognition that he earned from his writings, the world probably would never have known of his inventions. He also achieved more success as an inventor than most inventors do.
–niemann7@aol.com
California Legacy SL #3: Mark Twain – Baker’s BlueJay Yarn
April 15th, 2011 | admin
The California Legacy Project at Santa Clara University is dedicated to preserving Californias unique culture through our book series, our radio productions, and now through the virtual world of Second Life, using machinima videos to visualize the writings. Currently, California Legacy has published almost 40 books—reprints, single author studies, and new anthologies—with our publishing partner, Heyday Books. With KAZU Public Radio, 90.3 Pacific Grove, we have produced nearly 500 segments of our 90 second “Your California Legacy” programs. For more on The California Legacy Project, visit www.californialegacy.org This third episode is an excerpt from Mark Twain’s “A Tramp Abroad” (1880).
Video Rating: 5 / 5
Mark Twain?s Family And His Young Age
April 14th, 2011 | admin
Mark Twain or his actual name as Samuel Langhorne (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910) was a legend in America’s literature. He had produced thousands of writings, from articles, letters, journals to novels. Among his famous novel was Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was later called as Great American Novel. His another masterpiece, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer became an American classic and bestseller, at the time of his death. William Faulkner called him as The Father of American Literature.
Mark Twain was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. His Father, John Marshall Clemens (August 11, 1798 – March 24, 1847) was a Tennessee country merchant while his mother was Jane Lampton Clemens (June 18, 1803 – October 27, 1890). Unfortunately, his father died of pneumonia at his age of 11.
Mark Twain, including him, had 7 siblings. He was the 6th of the 7 children. Below are the summary of his siblings.
Orion (July 17, 1825 – December 11, 1897) Pamela (September 19, 1827 – August 31, 1904) Pleasant (1828–1829) Margaret (May 31, 1830 – August 17, 1839) Benjamin (June 8, 1832 – May 12, 1842) Samuel (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910) – Mark Twain himself Henry ((July 13, 1838 – June 21, 1858)
Most of his siblings died at young age. Henry died in a riverboat explosion at the age of 20. When he was three years old, his sister Margaret died at 9 years old, followed by his brother, Benjamin 3 years later (aged 10). Pleasant died at only 6 month old.
Mark Twain followed his family to Hannibal, Missouri at the age of 4. This place was a port town on the Mississippi River. It gave Twain lots of inspiration for his writing of the fictional town of St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain was able to familiarize with the institution of slavery as Missouri was a slave state, which enabled him to write about it in his writings.
The next year after his father’s death, Twain became a printer’s apprentice. In 1851, which he was only 16 years old, he worked as a typesetter and soon writing articles and humorous sketches for his brother, Orion’s newspaper, Hannibal Journal. Two years later, he left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York City, Philadelhpia, St. Louis and Cincinnati. Twain did not attend any conventional school. However, he could educate himself in public libraries in the evenings. Public libraries was his paradise of wide sources of information and knowledge. At 22, Twain returned to Missouri.
Get Mark Twain’s best selling novels at The Mark Twain Classical Ebook Collection
Dennis was a Mark Twain fan. He has read several Mark Twain’s books like A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He would like to share his fun of reading Mark Twain’s top selling novels to the public.
He highly recommend The Mark Twain Classical Ebook Collection to get complete set of Mark Twain’s best selling books.
Article from articlesbase.com
Hal Holbrook’s Mark Twain Tonight !
April 14th, 2011 | admin
Television history was made on March 6, 1967 when an audience of over 30 million viewers tuned in to watch the first television broadcast of Hal Holbrook’s landmark one-man show, Mark Twain Tonight! The 90-minute special was a tour de force, and was acclaimed as one of the high points in television history. Most startling is the freshness of Twain’s stinging commentary on politics, the art of lying, religion, patriotism, slavery, and Man’s notion that he is the Creator’s pet.
Holbrook seems to improvise his way through the gold mine of Twain’s writing, stitching it together from many sources, allowing us to see into the heart and soul of the great humorist at 70. For the first time on video, Hal Holbrook’s classic performance captures the flamboyant humor and irreverence of Mark Twain. Now all generations of viewers can experience one of the truly greatest television specials of all time. For more information on this DVD or to purchase, please visit www.kultur.com