Here's a question to ponder: Why is there no big Mark Twain business in San
Francisco?  Not long ago I was contacted by someone developing tours that
wanted to research the connection between Twain and Emperor Norton -- an
interesting idea -- and this got me to thinking: SF really doesn't play up
the Twain connection much at all.  I mean, Oakland at least has Jack London
Square, but I can't recall even a good Mark Twain saloon in SF or even a
Mark Twain bordello or a newspaperman writing a column  of Mark Twain
Journalism (Herb Caen never took that one on, but he had his own great
reputation as the one who coined "beatnik" and "Baghdad by the Bay" and
more), and I've never heard of any of the Chinese civil rights
organizations handing out The Mark Twain Award for Outstanding Anti-Racist
or Mark Twain's Last Dime homeless shelter . . .   All possible Mark Twain
connections with SF.  Even Angel Camp had the Jumping Frog Festival --
until people complained of cruelty -- so you'd figure SF would jump in with
its own celebration.

I'm writing a letter to the Chamber of Commerce.

Hilton Obenzinger
Stanford University