Ever the Twain Shall Meet: Holbrook and Clemens 100 Years Later

My first memories of enjoying Mark Twain come from reading, a 50 year-old unabridged copy of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a teenager that my mother and I had found buried away in our old home. Laughing out loud together at the written wit of this author, I always seemed to find Twain somewhere through the years. An avid reader and a lover of classic literature and history, Twain's words resonated everywhere I went. He was always popping up - kind of like a long lost forgotten friend who always remained in the shadows.

In the fall of 1999, Twain entered my life unexpectedly again through a college professor I met while studying to become an elementary school teacher. Dr. Cindy Lovell expressed a passion for Twain that I had never experienced on my own - that alone endeared me to learn more. A self-professed "Twainiac" her love and knowledge of this beloved author impacted me far greater than any other author I realized ever could.

Mark Twain was everywhere. Dr. Lovell showed us the how, when, where and why Twain's words, stories, lessons and life held meaning for us generations later.

Mark Twain died 100 years ago today, April 21, 1910, a quarter of a century after Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1885. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, MO, in 1835, the year that Halley's Comet graced the sky. He had notably been quoted as saying he expected to go out (die) when the comet returned to the sky in the 74^th year of his life, or it would be his life's greatest disappointment. Twain received his wish.

In the final years of his life, Twain took to wearing completely white suits as he traveled and spoke. He called them his "Don't give a damn suits!" It was in this capacity that I encountered Twain alive and well in March, 2007. As a guest of Dr. Lovell, I was able to watch actor Hal Holbrook perform live as the satirist in his 50 + year reign as the solo performer in Mark Twain Tonight! Completely overwhelmed at the end of the night, I could hardly believe that Twain was not actually alive right in front of me. I couldn't believe that the words Holbrook spoke, all taken from Twain's own, talked about a time, an era long gone, yet seemed to be speaking of the woes and worries of our society today. These words made me realize that Twain was far ahead of his time. Brilliant. Brutally honest and not ashamed of it.

Twain was all too familiar with death by the time his own claimed him. He joked about it, made exaggerations about it, and challenged it. Yet in the end, though his voice was silenced, his words, and legacy remain today, stronger than ever in this year of 2010 - The Year of Mark Twain. He once said there was no humor in heaven, but I am sure in my heart that if not before, humor has lived there since 100 years ago today.