I think James is right. A number of people accused Clemens of drinking a lot while he lived near, then in San Francisco's downtown Occidental Hotel. Nearby was a favorite watering hole, where he supposedly drank with one Tom Sawyer, telling Tom he was thinking of writing a book about a boy, and might model the kid after Mr. Sawyer. Tom later opened a wine and spirits shop on about Third Street and Market, with a shingle calling it "The Original Tom Sawyer." I think the SF Police did accuse Sam of often being inebriated, to tarnish his reputation before encouraging him to leave the City in 1968, never to return for the part of his heart still here.
I think the liquor store was right by Annie Alley off Market, which around the Sesquicentennial the City/County Supervisors closed it as a street and had re-named Mark Twain Plaza. (Not named that any longer, as they later closed a short section of a different street (Merchant), re-naming THAT short dead-end Mark Twain Lane (on many maps, I think including Google's, mis-named Mark Twain Alley, in the shadow of the TransAmerica Pyramid), which is where we started the Twain Walk during the ALA Conference. FYI, if you know SF at all, the waterfront was very close, and the "Diagonal" boulevard called Columbus Avenue from there to and through North Beach to the north waterfront (Joseph Conrad Plaza) did not exist, and should be removed today -- at least re-named for someone we could like.
The above is true, mostly, and confirmed by the SF City Archivist.
Richard R. - San Francisco.
===========================
--- On Sat, 9/4/10, James Edstrom <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: James Edstrom <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Twain and alcohol
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Saturday, September 4, 2010, 2:20 PM
> I believe that episode was from
> Paine's Biography.
>
> <-----Original Message----->
>
>
> From: Alex Brink Effgen [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 9/3/2010 10:50:32 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Twain and alcohol
>
> I seem to remember a story of Clemens telling his family
> about one time
> when he was put in jail out west, and when his innocent
> daughters
> replied with how he could've been put in jail, he responds
> with "Drunk,
> most likely."
>
> Did I catch that in the Ken Burns documentary? Is this more
> than
> apocryphal? Anyone?
> .
>
>
|
