Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1875) and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "The Great American Novel".
Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. His humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", was published in 1865, based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California where he had spent some time as a miner. The short story brought international attention and was even translated into French His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, but he invested in ventures that lost most of it—notably the Paige Compositor, a mechanical typesetter that failed because of its complexity and imprecision. He filed for bankruptcy in the wake of these financial setbacks, but he eventually overcame his financial troubles with the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers. He chose to pay all his pre-bankruptcy creditors in full, even after he had no legal responsibility to do so.
Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well; he died the day after the comet returned. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist this country has produced", and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature". Wikipedia, Mark Twain
Russell describes the beginning of his lifelong friendship with Mark Twain in his Home Study Course (p. 221) as follows:
"As a young illustrator, I was asked to illustrate a story called “Ten Little Pigs. After completing my drawings, I was not satisfied with them. They did not excel. I spent a week in the country studying pigs and did them all over again. More love went into them. I worked with God's hands in mine instead of with mine alone. They excelled. The love I gave them was reflected in Mark Twain, who regave it to me. Work done worthily brought Mark Twain into my life. He consulted with me regarding The Jumping Frog of Callaveras County." https://walterrussellblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/03/sculptures/
In January 1910, Samuel Clemens traveled to Bermuda for his health, but heart trouble drove him home again. He died on April 21, 1910, at age 74, in his final home in Redding, Connecticut. His body was dressed in one of his signature white suits and ultimately taken to Elmira, New York – Olivia Clemens’s hometown and always a second home for the Clemens family. There he was laid to rest next to his wife and children.
In his last substantial manuscript, "Letters from the Earth," Clemens wrote: “Life was not a valuable gift, but death was. Life was a fever-dream made up of joys embittered by sorrows, pleasure poisoned by pain; a dream that was a nightmare-confusion of spasmodic and fleeting delights, ecstasies, exultations, happinesses, interspersed with long-drawn miseries, griefs, perils, horrors, disappointments, defeats, humiliations, and despairs – the heaviest curse devisable by divine ingenuity; but death was sweet, death was gentle, death was kind; death healed the bruised spirit and the broken heart, and gave them rest and forgetfulness; death was man's best friend; when man could endure life no longer, death came and set him free." [Source: The Mark Twain House & Museum]
"One day I was handed a few volumes of new literature unlike anything I had ever read before and so captivating as to make me utterly forget my hopeless state. They were the earlier works of Mark Twain and to them might have been due the miraculous recovery which followed. Twenty-five years later, when I met Mr. Clements and we formed a friendship between us, I told him of the experience and was amazed to see that great man of laughter burst into tears..." [Nikola Tesla]
Mark Twain and his close companion, John T. Lewis, were captured standing side by side at Quarry Farm in Elmira, New York, back in 1903. Many have speculated that Lewis served as the inspiration for the character "Jim" in Twain's famous novel, "Huckleberry Finn."
John T. Lewis, born a freedman in Maryland in 1835, eventually settled in Elmira, NY. One fateful day, as he was returning from the market, his life took an unexpected turn. A carriage pulled by a runaway horse came hurtling down the road towards him, carrying three terrified women. Reacting swiftly, Lewis leaped from his wagon and managed to grasp the bridle, bringing the horse to a stop and saving the lives of the frightened passengers.
The women turned out to be the wife, daughter, and nurse of the wealthy Charles Langdon family, residents of Quarry Farm. As Charles Langdon was related to Samuel Clemens (known by his pen name, Mark Twain), the family was deeply grateful to Lewis for his heroic act. General Langdon presented Lewis with a generous check of one thousand dollars and later gifted him a gold watch engraved with a heartfelt message, commemorating the date of the brave rescue.
During this incident, Mark Twain happened to be visiting Quarry Farm and witnessed Lewis's heroism. In admiration and appreciation, Twain personally bestowed fifty dollars and a set of books with inscriptions to Lewis. With these gifts, Lewis was able to clear his entire sixty-four-acre farm. Furthermore, he became employed by the Langdons on Quarry Farm, strengthening his bond with Mark Twain.
This bond between Lewis and Twain grew into a close and enduring friendship that lasted for over three decades. The two were often photographed together, especially during Twain's visits to the Langdon residence, where he frequently engaged in his writing. Twain once expressed, "I have not known a honester man or a more respect-worthy one." when referring to his esteemed friend John T. Lewis.