Kerry Driscoll (the Mark Twain Circle's executive coordinator) and I are
now conspiring with Richard on this, and we encourage other Mark Twain
Circlers to join the excursion--though I do join Susan Harris in
rejecting any activities that involve rising at 4:00 a.m.  

As Richard indicated, the time is not yet firmly fixed, but you can
anticipate that departure will be within the range of early to middle
afternoon on Saturday.  This will be coordinated with other Mark Twain
activities insofar as possible.  Stay tuned to the Mark Twain Forum, or
attend the Mark Twain Circle sessions (including Business Meeting) at
ALA, for further details.

Big thanks to Richard for doing this.  --Jim Leonard


-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Richard
Reineccius
Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2010 10:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Twain - Walking in San Francisco

SF City Guides did not come up with a certified guide, so I will lead an
experimental Twain Walk on Saturday, the 29th, time to be determined.
Jim Leonard of MT Circle encouraged me to do it. (Don't worry, I was a
Gold Rush Guide at the Old Mint Museum before the U.S. Treasury shut it
down).
 
The Walk will start at Mark Twain Place, a short alley next to the
infamous TransAmerica Pyramid building, near the Hyatt. It's where stood
The Occidental Hotel, the place where he lived as he became famous for
the frog tale and the pilgrimage story, and perhaps where he considered
suicide.

I NEED, and will WELCOME any help with tales, documented true or
fictional, or places you would recommend visiting in the downtown and
North Beach district. Send them to me, or bring them to the conference.
One recommendation, by Dennis
 Kelly, was taking the early morning (4 AM) trip Twain wrote about to
the famous Cliff House and Sutro Baths, which would require autos or
public transportation. I'm game, but will time and sleep requirements
allow?  We do plan to stop at a number of author-named alleys up
Columbus Avenue from Mark Twain Place. The end of Annie Alley, near the
new SF Museum of Modern Art and the Contemporary Jewish Museum, was for
a while Mark Twain Plaza, but all sign and signs of it are gone, except
one saying "No Roller Skating, Skateboarding or Bicycle Riding".

I'm putting together a sheaf of Xerocopies of notes and pictures of
favorite Twain places he stayed, journalized, and imbibed, and
publications for which he wrote before he left in 1868, to the relief of
the Police, reports noted.