Mark Twain Scholars:

Re: Mark Twain surfing

An exhaustive review of the literature and known sources, e.g., letters, lecture notes, lecture reviews, U.C Berkeley's site, etc. provides no specific confirmation that Mark Twain included his Hawaiian surfing attempt in his inaugural lecture tour (Sandwich Islands lecture) or later during his Rough It lecture.

Additionally I have been in contact with Barbara Schmidt. She suggested I post the following query on the forum:

I am attempting to document any Twain reference/comment to surfing ("surf-bathing") other than his comments in Rough It.

Questions:
1. Does anyone have a Twain lecture review that specifically mentions surfing ("surf-bathing")?
2. Does anyone have any ideas or would like to speculate why Twain prominently mentions his surfing attempt in the novel Roughing It, but failed to routinely include it his Sandwich Island or Rough It lectures?

I look forward to hearing from you,
David Matuszak
[log in to unmask]