Dear Forum Friends,

    Ah! What a topic! I've written about it no fewer than five times in the
last five years, most recently as an op-ed piece for The Hartford Courant
this past spring.
    In that particular case—still unresolved as far as I know—the use of
Twain's image in an ad by the Carson City, Nev., tourism bureau was being
strenuously objected to by a trust represented by a law firm specializing in
protecting the images of dead celebrities.
    I thought the whole thing was rather ludicrous, since there are many
inappropriate uses of SLC's image and name, especially in Hannibal.
    But as Lewis Lapham told me, Twain was reduced, in popular culture
terms,
to a "decal"—an icon, he explained, is somewhat more substantial—whose image
is instantly recognizable to those who've never even read HUCK FINN and
probably couldn't find the Mississippi on a really big map.
    Then again, this is the problem with celebrity, and one which Justin
Kaplan addressed so well. Clemens sought fame even as he mistrusted it—he
appeared in advertisements himself throughout much of the late 19th century.
The thing is, back them MT was still entirely HIS creation. The sheer force
of history has made him something to which we lay claim, especially since he
so brilliantly embodies a great many of our national dichotomies. Shelly
Fishkin also nails this wonderfully in LIGHTING OUT FOR THE TERRITORY.
    Another theory is that the erroneous image, which SLC didn't fight, of
himself as a slightly cranky, avuncular sort, and which was later vigorously
promoted by Clara after his death, made him accessible in a way Emerson,
Thoreau and even Whitman never can be.
    If I can dig up the piece I wrote for The Courant (they did not, alas,
see fit to put it in their Web archive), I'll happily send it along to
anyone
who wants to send me a SASE. I will include my address to those who respond.
    This is, however, a terrific topic worth plumbing for a long time!

Best,

Kathy O'Connell
Meriden Record-Journal
Meriden, Conn.