All good questions and I addressed them all (and several others) in my
article in MTJ. My 15 minute paper at Elmira and Martin Zehr's write-up
could not replicate all the documentation and historical background I
included in the article.
I should add that the old stories about his nom de plume --the bar tab
stories, the Capt. Sellers tall-tale, and variants of those, have all been
debunked by others. That being the case, it's logical to assume (as we all
have) that he just decided to use a familiar steamboat term, but the timing
of that abrupt decision to adopt this pen-name and place where he made that
decision raises questions, and if he'd simply decided to use a leadsman's
old sounding call as his pen-name, then why the need to make up the Capt
Sellers nonsense? I answer that question in my article. I explain exactly
why he would not want his reading public to know that he got the name from
Vanity Fair, how he was going to some trouble to distance himself from the
Phunny Phellow brand of humor, why a pen-name was such a valuable commodity
for a writer, etc.
Kevin
@
Mac Donnell Rare Books
9307 Glenlake Drive
Austin TX 78730
512-345-4139
Member: ABAA, ILAB
*************************
You may browse our books at
www.macdonnellrarebooks.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dustin Zima" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, August 16, 2013 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: Link to article in Kansas City Star
>I have a quick question for the forum regarding Kevin's incredible
>discover=
> y.? Let me set it up first:? Sam began as a cub pilot in 1857; he received
> =
> his pilot's license in 1859.? The article that Kevin found is from 1861.?
> H=
> e adopts the moniker in 1863, which very well could have been as a result
> o=
> f the Vanity Fair article.? However, how does this conclusively rule out
> th=
> e previous assumptions/educated guesses as to the nom de plum ??
> Furthermor=
> e, this leads me to at least question--most respectfully--Kevin's
> conclusio=
> n that the use of "Mark Twain" in the Vanity Fair article, combined with
> th=
> e assertion that it was a publication that Sam had read or been aware of,
> "=
> provides simple, logical answers to dangling questions, is contradicted by
> =
> no known facts," and that "everything fits like a glove."? Would Sam not
> ha=
> ve already been aware of the term's adaptability into a believable
> pen-name=
> ?? Perhaps not since he did not christen himself "Mark Twain" until
> 1863--t=
> wo years after the Vanity Fair article.? However he was interested in
> writi=
> ng before becoming a cub pilot, and the years during his piloting days
> were=
> profoundly influential to Sam as a writer/thinker/observer--see Life on
> th=
> e Mississippi.? Would Sam not have been led more by his cherished days of
> p=
> iloting, specifically the language from those days? ? ? ?=20
> =20
>
> =20
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kevin Mac Donnell <[log in to unmask]>
> To: TWAIN-L <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Fri, Aug 16, 2013 12:37 pm
> Subject: Link to article in Kansas City Star
>
> =20
> =20
> =20
> Martin Zehr did a fine write-up about my piece for which I want to thank
> hi=
> =3D=20
> m in this very public forum among colleagues.=20
> =20
> I hope those whose previous research on Mark Twain are cited in my article
> =
> =3D=20
> will accept those citations as my way of saying thanks to them for their
> in=
> =3D=20
> sights and hard work that suggested avenues of research and provided
> numero=
> =3D=20
> us clues that led me to my conclusions --whether or not you even agree
> with=
> =3D=20
> my conclusions.=20
> =20
> I also hope that those who are not already subscribers to the Mark Twain
> Jo=
> =3D=20
> urnal will remedy that grievous oversight. The MTJ deserves the support of
> =
> =3D=20
> all Twainians.=20
> =20
> Here's the link to Martin Zehr's piece in the Kansas City Star: =20
> =20
> http://www.kansascity.com/2013/08/16/4413137/a-new-theory-seems-the-best-e=
> =3D=20
> xplanation.html =20
> =20
> If the crush of fame becomes overwhelming, you will find me hiding, many
> da=
> =3D=20
> ys out, under a nom de plume that's Twainian, yet reflects my Irish
> heritag=
> =3D=20
> e-- Begum O'Bengal. =20
> =20
> Kevin=20
> @=20
> Mac Donnell Rare Books=20
> 9307 Glenlake Drive=20
> Austin TX 78730=20
> 512-345-4139=20
> Member: ABAA, ILAB=20
> *************************=20
> You may browse our books at =20
> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com=20
> =20
> =20
> =20
> -----=20
> No virus found in this message.=20
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com=20
> Version: 2013.0.3392 / Virus Database: 3211/6582 - Release Date: 08/16/13=
> =20
> =20
>
> =20
>
>
>
> -----
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 2013.0.3392 / Virus Database: 3211/6582 - Release Date: 08/16/13
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