People in the public eye have a way of portraying a particular voice when
they are "on," and another when they are just being themselves with friends
and family. One night we were at a bookstore when the blustery and
hilarious Kinky Friedman ("They ain't makin Jews like Jesus anymore") was
talking before autographiing his latest mystery novel. We were fairly early
in the line and as he was autographing our copy ("See you in Hell. Kinky"),
my wife happened to ask about another south Texas author who had,
apparently, been going through a bad patch. For a few seconds she drew him
out of the act while he talked about a friend who worried him.  So it goes.
If Clara said he nailed it, that's good enough for me.

On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 7:26 PM, Rick Talbot <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> At quarry Farm in September of 2009, a number of us stood in a circle
> smoking cigars. The sun had well set and as we lingered now we saw each
> other only in faint silhouette with tiny beacons of red ash floating about
> to mark the location of the speakers. Hal Holbrook was speaking to us and
> the subject of his imitation of Twain's voice came up. He said that he had
> spoken with Clara Clemens and she had remarked that "...it's very
> good--close to Papa." And then, changing the subject, she went on to tell
> him that he would do well to play the part of Jesus Christ on stage. We all
> laughed, but I didn't forget his remark.
>
> In October of 2010, my wife, Jan, and I had the opportunity to take
> 84-year-old Hal Holbrook out to supper after he had performed MARK TWIN
> TONIGHT at a Saint Paul theater. Five of us sat till one in the morning and
> just talked. I remembered his remarked and asked him again about Twain's
> voice. He repeated the comment that Clara had made nearly verbatim.
>
> I'll never know what Clemens' real voice sounded like but I suspect, like
> Holbrook, there are two; one, Clemens' normal speaking voice and the other
> 'Sammy's long drawl' the one he uses as Mark Twain. I'll bet it was no
> different in the Clemens' household.
>
> Thanks for letting me chime in.
>
> Rick Talbot
> Falcon Heights, Minnesota
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tracy Wuster
> Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 3:30 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Mark Twain's Voice
>
> I could rustle up a fifty-pound sack of corn meal, and a side of
> bacon, ammunition, and a four-gallon jug of whisky, in addition to a
> few graduate students, if someone was willing to pay for the
> expedition.  Easy enough.
>
> Tracy Wuster
>
> On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 2:57 PM, Terry Ballard <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >
> > I'm less optimistic. I suspect that the closest thing we will hear to
> > Twain's actual voice is Hal Holbrook. I read somewhere that when he was
> > starting out he found Isabel Lyons living in New York and she coached him
> > on Twain's voice. However, I would be really happy if somebody proved me
> > wrong about an actual recording.
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> > Terry Ballard
> > Assistant Director of Technical Services for Library Systems
> > The New York Law School
> > 185 West Broadway, New York, NY, 10013
> > 212-431-2106
> > http://www.terryballard.org
> > Author of the book "Google this" http://googlethisforlibraries.com
> >
> > "My memory has a mind of its own."
>



-- 


Terry Ballard
Assistant Director of Technical Services for Library Systems
The New York Law School
185 West Broadway, New York, NY, 10013
212-431-2106
http://www.terryballard.org
Author of the book "Google this" http://googlethisforlibraries.com

"My memory has a mind of its own."