Please allow me to intro myself.  I am Chair of the Communication
Dept. at The Univ. of Texas - Pan American in Edinburg, Texas --- that's
in what's called Deep (by God) South Texas.  I'm about 18 miles North of
Mexico just above McAllen in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (not really a
valley, it more of a delta, like the Nile delta).
        My interest in Mark Twain springs from as association with Dr.
Willian F. Strong, a member of our faculty who teaches
speech-communication and who did his M.A. on the speeches of Twain (and
who does a wonderful one-man Mark Twain show).  Bill and I have been
talking movies, which is my field.  You can see from my signature block
that I am List Owner of SCRNWRiT (pronounced SCREENWRITE), a discussion
list for and about screenwriting.  Over the last year I've become
interested in writing a script about Twain, particularly the last 10
years of his life.  So, I'm trying to steep myself in Mr. Clemens and
write a script this fall.
        My first step is to develope an timeline of events from the death
of Clemens wife until his own death.
        Along the way I'm interested in observations about the
relationship between Clemens and Paine (sp?), as well as between
Clemens and Twitchell, Clemens and Ms. Lyons, and Clemens and his last
two daughters.
        Please excuse my ignorance because I come to this group without
much depth in the subject, but with a serious and abiding love for both
the man and his contributions to the American character.  My position is
that I don't believe he ever understood, as many humorist do not, the
significance and lasting value of the joy he have to his own time and to
positarity.  If you know the film SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, it says some of
what I'd like to say about Mark Twain --- basically that, those who give
us laughter give us more than merely a smile, they give us medicine for
our pains, a tonic for our spirits, and the richest food possible for our
souls.

Jack R. Stanley
The Univ. of Texas-Pan American