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"Arianela ." <[log in to unmask]>
Mon, 14 Nov 2016 15:31:27 -0800
text/plain (281 lines)
I really appreciated the link to the Mark Twain Papers past.  I didn't
realize that Fred Anderson became the Chief Editor in 1964.  I came to
Berkeley for my PHd in 1965, mainly because of the Mark Twain riches
there, and very soon asked to see the first scrapbook which Fred
himself delivered to a reading room.   I got very excited by what I
found inside and made some remark about how wonderful that was and
never forgot his remark.  "All surprises aren't good ones."  And
later, when I had to drop out because my mother had a stroke and I had
to take care of her, when I went to close out my apt in January, I saw
him and he remarked, "You don't have to have a degree to write a
book."  As it happens, I didin't get back there until 1978!!!
He became my only experience of having a mentor.  Broke my heart when
I came back from spending some time back in Sacramento only to learn
he had died!  Oh, another remark I remember.  I came back from a
weekend at home and told him I'd had a dream about Mark Twain.  He
said, "What did he say?"  I attended a talk Bob Hirst gave to a class
before he became the next Chief Editor.  I think he has now lasted
longer than anybody.

So glad the Mark Twain Project exists.
Arianne Laidlaw

On Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 7:57 AM, Kevin Mac Donnell
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Bradley's  recollection may be a conflation of Hal Holbrook's meeting with
> Clara on April 12, 1961, a date proven by a letter I have from Clara, and
> Laura Trombley's own work with the papers. I don't think Clara and Nina were
> living together in Hollywood either; Nina was all over the place and they
> were estranged a good deal of the time. Twain's papers were already pretty
> well sorted by the time Hal Holbrook and Clara met each other, and long
> before Trombley did her research there. For an accurate history of how
> Twain's paper came to rest at the Mark Twain Paper & Project at the Bancroft
> Library click this link (or paste it into your browser if it's not a live
> link by the time it appears in the MT Forum, as sometimes happens:
>
> http://www.marktwainproject.org/about_projecthistory.shtml
>
> Hope this is helpful.
>
> Kevin
> @
> Mac Donnell Rare Books
> 9307 Glenlake Drive
> Austin TX 78730
> 512-345-4139
> Member: ABAA, ILAB
> *************************
> You may browse our books at:
> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arianela .
> Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2016 11:55 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Mark Twain Tonight
>
> I think Clara's papers were the underpinnings of all that is now at
> the University of California at Berkeley library Mark Twain Project
> offices.
> The first editor of the project befriended Clara and scored for
> Berkeley.  Yale would have been a more logical repository, but I'm so
> grateful that her collection ended up here in California.
> Arianne Laidlaw
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 7, 2016 at 4:24 PM, Bradley Williams
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> At a lecture a few years ago given by Laura Trombley, author of MARK
>> TWAIN'=
>> S OTHER WOMAN, I recall her telling a story about Clara and her daughter
>> li=
>> ving in Hollywood/Los Angeles, where she still kept many of her father's
>> pa=
>> pers.  A young college student was hired to help organize the papers--his
>> n=
>> ame Hal Holbrook.
>>
>>
>> Brad Williams
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Michael MacBride
>> <mi=
>> [log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Monday, November 30, 2015 12:28:11 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Mark Twain Tonight
>>
>> re: Google featuring Mark Twain.
>>
>> They did actually (back in 2011), but it's been a while. I only remember
>> because when a friend of mine started at Google (in 2007), I made him pass
>> on the suggestion. And, when they finally did honor Twain, my buddy sent
>> me
>> an email saying, "well, it took 4 years or so, but there you go..."
>>
>> http://www.google.com/doodles/mark-twains-176th-birthday
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Michael
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 30, 2015 at 2:16 PM, Arianela . <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> Come to think of it, I'm shocked that Google hasn't featured Mark
>>> Twain on his birthday.  What's wrong with them?
>>> Arianne Laidlaw
>>> PS  I gave a talk recently at my local book Collector's club just as I
>>> did last year, also in November.  They've decided to have a Mark Twain
>>> night each year.  They produced a wonderful little book giving
>>> transcriptions of talks we gave last year.  After my longer one,
>>> anyone could get up and talk for five minutes.  What is surprising is
>>> how interesting everybody was so the book is a gem.  Editors included
>>> lots of photographs and informative links.  I think Mark Twain schools
>>> would find it fascinated.  One photo features one of those here in
>>> Sacramento, photoshopping its frog logo into a larger version on the
>>> school's sidewalk.  One guy talked about an accidental trip to Elmira
>>> so that he saw Mark Twain's grave.  The editors added photos and I
>>> learned something I didn't know.  That the TALL marker is two fathoms
>>> tall, Mark Twain.
>>>
>>> Arianne Laidlaw
>>>
>>> On Mon, Nov 30, 2015 at 6:05 AM, Terry Ballard <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>> > I had read that Holbrook was vetted not only by Clara, but by Isabel
>>> Lyons.
>>> > If true, that means that Holbrook's voice is the nearest thing we will
>>> ever
>>> > have to a recording of Twain. PS, Happy birthday, Mark Twain. You are
>>> > 1=
>> 80
>>> > and your words are as inspiring as ever to people living in this
>>> > troubl=
>> ed
>>> > world.
>>> >
>>> > On Mon, Nov 30, 2015 at 12:38 AM, Susan Bailey <
>>> [log in to unmask]>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Carl, when I saw him last year at Hartford I was so engrossed in his
>>> >> performance that I thought I was seeing Twain on the stage.  He is a
>>> >> magnificent actor. In the scene where he falls asleep in the chair, I
>>> was
>>> >> just hoping one of the stage hands would wake him up!
>>> >>
>>> >> I know he met with Clara once and I believe she was ill at the time.
>>> >> =
>> I
>>> >> think her second husband, Jacques Samossoud set it up.
>>> >>
>>> >> In the fall of 1965, a few months before she died in January 1966,
>>> >> Nin=
>> a
>>> saw
>>> >> his show at least once when he was playing in the desert near Los
>>> Angeles.
>>> >>
>>> >> Susan Bailey
>>> >> Co author
>>> >> The Twain Shall Meet
>>> >> <
>>> >>
>>> http://www.amazon.com/Twain-Shall-Meet-Granddaughter-Gabrilowitsch/dp/149=
>> 9799497/ref=3Dsr_1_1/191-7847938-3534132?ie=3DUTF8&qid=3D1415889321&sr=3D8-=
>> 1&keywords=3Dthe+twain+shall+meet+susan+bailey
>>> >> >
>>> >> Twain Page <https://www.facebook.com/marktwainsgranddaughter>
>>> >> www.marktwainonline.com<http://www.marktwainonline.com>
>>> >> Greenville, SC
>>> >>
>>> >> On Sun, Nov 29, 2015 at 7:43 PM, Carl J. Chimi <[log in to unmask]>
>>> >> wrote=
>> :
>>> >>
>>> >> > Folks,
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > The other day I watched an old Dirty Harry movie, Magnum Force,
>>> wherein
>>> >> Hal
>>> >> > Holbrook plays a crooked cop. That made me realize that I haven't
>>> >> > ev=
>> er
>>> >> seen
>>> >> > his 1967 taped production of Mark Twain Tonight.  I saw him perform
>>> >> > =
>> it
>>> >> live
>>> >> > in Boston when I was young, in 1973 and maybe 1979.  I remember
>>> >> > bein=
>> g
>>> >> > mesmerized and thrilled to see a live representation of my hero on a
>>> >> stage.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > I downloaded and watched the 1967 Mark Twain Tonight just now.  I
>>> >> > wa=
>> s
>>> >> blown
>>> >> > away with how good Hal Holbrook was.  The makeup was amazing for
>>> >> > 196=
>> 7;
>>> >> > although he doesn't look exactly like the 70-year-old Mark Twain,
>>> >> > hi=
>> s
>>> own
>>> >> > Hal Holbrook look seems to nearly disappear within the Mark Twain
>>> >> persona.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Even when he was recreating well known stories such as The Golden
>>> Arm, he
>>> >> > still managed to completely hold my short little span of attention
>>> >> > b=
>> y
>>> his
>>> >> > use of unexpected sounds and voices, and with his impeccable timing.
>>> His
>>> >> > take on Jim Blaine was just hilarious, and somehow made me feel it
>>> >> > i=
>> s
>>> a
>>> >> > quintessential American story.  His more serious remarks were well
>>> chosen
>>> >> > for 1967 and for any time after that, too.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > In short, a true masterpiece of acting.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Does anyone know if Clara or her daughter ever saw Holbrook perform
>>> Mark
>>> >> > Twain?
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Regards,
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Carl
>>> >> >
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Terry Ballard
>>> > Author and Leisure Studies Manager
>>> > http://www.terryballard.org
>>> > Author of the book "Google this" http://googlethis.com
>>> > <http://googlethisforlibraries.com/>
>>> >
>>> > "My memory has a mind of its own."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Arianne Laidlaw A '58
>>>
>
>
>
> --
> Arianne Laidlaw A '58



-- 
Arianne Laidlaw A '58

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