On the level of comedy, OK I can see that.

On the social commentary level: I'd nominate George Carlin (who Twain's
non-existent God took too soon). Among the living? Jon Stewart or S Colbert

DDD

On Sun, Jun 30, 2019 at 10:11 AM Clay Shannon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dave, that is an awesome quote.
>
> I wonder how closely this Van Dyke is related to Dick, whom I consider the
> most Twain-like "comedian" of our time.
>
> - B. Clay Shannon
>
>
> On Sunday, June 30, 2019, 06:53:01 AM PDT, Dave Davis <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>
> A quick search uncovers this lead:
>
> "Untitled <http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/sc_as_mt/obitap3.html>," Henry
> Van Dyke on Mark Twain
>
> When Mark Twain turned 67, his longtime friend and advisor Henry Van Dyke read
> a poem for him
> <https://books.google.com/books?id=fmlCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT1528&dq=%22henry+van+dyke%22+%22mark+twain%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MMC-VO7rE8aoNpHhg5gM&ved=0CDUQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=%22henry%20van%20dyke%22%20%22mark%20twain%22&f=false>
> at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. Its last line was, "Long life to
> you, Mark Twain." Just seven years later, he'd be delivering the eulogy at
> Twain's funeral in New York City. In it, he provides a working definition
> of quality humor that everyone would be wise to remember: "But the mark of
> this higher humor is that it does not laugh at the weak, the helpless, the
> true, the innocent; only at the false, the pretentious, the vain, the
> hypocritical...we may say without doubt that [Twain] used his gift, not for
> evil, but for good."
>
> A *Times* report from that day <http://www.twainquotes.com/19100424a.html>
> wrote, "Throughout it was evident that the speaker was making a strong
> effort to keep down his emotion and control his voice.
> http://mentalfloss.com/article/61227/11-eulogies-writers-written-writers
>
> On Sun, Jun 30, 2019 at 9:42 AM Clay Shannon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Are there any surviving writings about Twain by those who actually knew
> him, other than those by Susy, Clara, Howells, Katy Leary, Dorothy Quick
> (the Angelfish), and Paine?
> I would be especially interested in what the Clemens family themselves
> said/wrote about him (his mother and siblings) and the Moffett family; but
> also Harte, Goodman, Redpath, Keller, Kipling, Bixby, Howland, Paige,
> Twichell, Aldrich, Gilder, Joel C. Harris, &c &c.
> I do know that Kipling wrote about his "pilgrimage" to meet Twain.
> Do such writings exist? Even better would be if they were all collected
> together in a volume (excluding the writings which are already of book
> length - those alluded to in the first paragraph). Has anybody done this
> yet?
> - B. Clay Shannon
>
>