Sharon,  thank you for the kind words and I regret that I "scooped" you on
the slavery research.  On the up side, there is much more work to be done
and much more material regarding Sam's early life that has never been
touched.  It is stuns me that his apprentice period has not been dredged
with the attention it warrants.  So much of the hyperbole Sam used in his
Mark Twain writings and performances is cited as historical fact by very
intelligent people.
    There are many rocks still to turn over.  It will require someone to
come put in a period of residence in the Hannibal area.  I am hopeful that
with the arrival of Dr. Faden to head up the local museum that we will enter
a period when real research into the life of Sam Clemens will be welcomed
and encouraged in Hannibal. That however is not a given. The Sam Clemens and
Samuel T. Glovers leave Hannibal and don't return.  The Blankenships and
Owsleys stay -- and breed prolifically. They sit on the boards of local
institutions.
    Regarding Tom Quirk, for goodness sakes he is the editor of the Mark
Twain series for University of Missouri Press. I have no greater benefactors
in the world of Mark Twain than Tom, Vic Doyno, Barb Schmidt and Dave
Thomson. I was just being as funny as I could be after two days of holding
an emesis pan standing next to my wife in the hospital.  My forte really is
not literature.  I can't explain the symbolism of anything.  Give me a
Rorshach test and I see spilled ink, paint accidents, and blobs. I sat in
awe at the Hannibal birthday celebration listening to Hal Bush discuss the
symbolism in Huck.  I'm afraid my mind is stuck in the literal -- and I wish
I could slip the bonds of that gravity more often.  I envy those of you who
have this gift.
    But Sharon your letter moves me to make this invitation. If there are
any of you who are interested in Sam's early life, there are ample
opportunities. Please come to Hannibal and start researching.  I'll be glad
to share ideas with you.  I would love to do this myself, but find I am in
the unfortunate position of being more and more consumed by my law practice.
I turned 50 in October and there is a cadence to the practice of law.  I
look authoritative now and have a lot of experience.  My practice grows
exponentially each year and I just don't have the time I had five years ago
when I began researching slavery.
    There is fertile ground here.
    Terrell Dempsey