Happy Birthday Mark Twain!

 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. dream. Discover."

Happy Birthday 

Mark Twain!

This month we celebrate the birth of one of America's comedic and literary geniuses - the iconic Mark Twain. Born on November 30, 1835, in Missouri, Samuel Langhorne Clemens would become the small town of Hanibal's most legendary figure. After Samuel's father died, when he was only 13, he went to work in a printing press and discovered his love of writing. In 1856, he left home (at age 17) and headed to St. Louis, to become a river pilot. In this period he adopted his pseudonym of Mark Twain, which is the term used when the depth of the water is safe for a boat to navigate. Once the Civil War began, much of the river trade began to slow and thus Samuel Clemens went looking for work off the Mighty Mississipi and landed jobs reporting for multiple newspapers around the country.  In 1870 He married Olivia Langdon and they had 4 children only one of which survived over the age of 20.

It wasn't until 1865 when a piece entitled, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County" got picked up by the Saturday Evening Press, that Twain began to receive acclaim for his writing. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" was published in 1876, and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in 1885. He wrote 28 books and numerous short stories, letters and sketches. 

Here in the library we are honoring Twain with a November display of his most famous works and quotes. Come on in for a visit to pay homage to the printer, pilot, soldier, miner, reporter, lecturer, editor, humorist, author, businessman, publisher.

"Good Friends, good books and a sleepy conscience : this is the ideal life."

And remember, "Never put off til tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow!"

If you still can't get your fill of all things Twain, check out the following sites and online exhibits:

https://www.marktwainhouse.org/

http://www.pbs.org/marktwain/

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-mark-twain