Back in the late eighties, we at the Elmira Center for Mark Twain Studies had the good fortune and honor to get to know Katharine Leary Antenne and her husband Robert.  Kay was Katy Leary’s great niece.   ( As you all probably know, Katy Leary was from Elmira.  When she was a young woman she left Elmira to go to Hartford to work for the Clemens family and, you know the rest of the story.)
     The Antennes were very familiar with Mary Lawton’s book. I remember Kay telling me that the family was for the most part very pleased with the book, but took issue with the way Lawton presented Katy’s speech. According to Kay, Katy was well-spoken and did not use “folksy” or poor grammar. She had been influenced by Olivia in many ways, for example, in the manner of proper speech; She’d also been encouraged to read good books. She traveled with the family and was very much a part of their interesting and cultured lives.
      The Elmira College Archive is very proud to have the Antenne Collection, books presented to us by Kay and Bob Antenne. These books had been gifts to Katy Leary from Mark Twain and other members of the Clemens family.  At one of their many visits to Elmira, the Antennes  arranged for a cemetery marker to be placed at Katy’s grave. Also they were at the dedication of Katy Leary Park, located on the site of Katy’s Elmira family’s home.
Gretchen Sharlow 



Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 9, 2019, at 2:43 PM, Peter Salwen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Thanks, Barbs, for sharing your information & reflections. Sounds like an
> irresistible "new" resource.
> *_________________________________*
> 
> *Peter Salwen /* salwen.com
> *114 W 86, NYC 10024 | 917-620-5371*
> 
> 
> 
>> On Wed, Jan 9, 2019 at 2:25 PM Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>> I agree with Taylor that Leary’s memoir as told to Mary Lawton is an
>> extremely valuable contribution to Twain studies.  I use a digitized copy
>> of this book for word searching to overcome the lack of an index. I do have
>> an entry for Mary Lawton in my online Memorial Roster of Twain writers,
>> editors, and scholars. She was born July 21, 1869 in Ware, Massachusetts
>> and died January 21, 1945 in Orangeburg, NY. She studied at the American
>> Academy of Dramatic Arts.  Her other books included _Schumann-Heink, the
>> Last of the Titans_ (1928) and _The Paderewski Memoirs_ (1938).
>> 
>> I have not seen the new edition of Lawton’s book but would hope that it
>> features all the illustrations of the original.
>> 
>> Barb
>>