One Hundred thirteen years ago last Sunday, America’s Shakespeare—Samuel Langhorne Clemens, writing and lecturing as the more familiar “Mark Twain“–left this mortal coil as Halley’s Comet approached, just as he’d come in 77 years earlier.
If you haven’t already done so, treat yourself to his two-volume Autobiography, a treasure trove representing over 8,000 documents. It’s the best–and maybe the only–way to appreciate the richness of his talent and character.
Besides getting a whole lot smarter, you’ll be supporting the ongoing work of the Mark Twain Project at U.C. Berkeley–one of two venerable homes of the Great Man’s papers and memorabilia.