It would be nice if a reader could be found who was able to duplicate
the accents of outstate Missouri. I have heard several nondescript fellows,
white-suited and cigared, go through an imitation of Hal Holbrook doing
Mark Twain, but have never heard one that sounded like he came from these
parts. Most of the Twain imitators seem content to do a vague drawl and
leave
it at that.
The recordings I have heard on Caedmon--Ed Begley and Will Geer reading
Twain, dont seem quite right. Dick Cavett has done a recording of
Huckleberry
Finn, but he is Nebraskan by way of NYC, not Missourian.
Ted Ficklen
University of Missouri - St Louis