Dear Camy,

His friend Joe Twichell always addressed Clemens as "Mark" as a nickname, and often referred to him in his journal as "M.T."

By the way, Twichell was exactly the kind of person you felt you wanted to be toward the writer in your previous missive, inviting him in and letting him be himself; Twichell and his wife Harmony did exactly that, both in the early days when Clemens was courting and needed  advice and counsel, and in later life when he wrote virulent letters on politics and humanity. "I give you free leave to syphon out to me all such secretions whenever they accumulate to the point of discomfort," Twichell answered on of these letters. 

And after Susie died in 1896, Clemens wrote that Twichell was the only one he wanted to correspond with because he had "the touch that heals, not lacerates."

Steve

Steve Courtney
7 Union St.
Terryville, CT 06786
860-589-6412
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www.josephhopkinstwichell.com



> Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:25:11 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Addressing Mark Twain as "mark"
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Dear Group:
> Though I have read several biographies, I do not remember if the question I
> am asking was ever answered. Did anyone actually call Twain "mark" when
> they greeted him? My assumption is that Mark Twain was his name only in
> writing or in introducing him. I also assume, perhaps incorrectly, that he
> was rarely addressed as Mark".
> I was just wondering.
> Camy

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