What happened to him on the say he decide to follow a literary career.

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> On Oct 2, 2014, at 1:50 PM, Cindy Lovell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Nothing makes me happier than=0A=
> to see these sorts of conversations.=0A=
> What a lovable bunch of geeks=0A=
> we are, and wouldn't SLC relish=0A=
> such affectionate scrutiny? Haven't=0A=
> we all 'squandered' countless hours=0A=
> speculating and imagining answers=0A=
> to thousands of questions? What a=0A=
> power he holds over each one of us.=0A=
> He is more intimate to us than many=0A=
> of our own DNA-sharing relatives,=0A=
> yet he belongs to the world.=0A=
> =0A=
> If only ONE lost item or bit of information=0A=
> could be discovered from his life, =0A=
> what would each of you place at the=0A=
> top of the list? (Impossible to answer=0A=
> with only one, I know.)=0A=
> =0A=
> The butler pictured in the film is Claude:=0A=
> http://www.twainquotes.com/beuchotte.html=0A=
> =0A=
> =0A=
> =0A=
> ________________________________________=0A=
> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Kevin Mac Donnell <i=
> [log in to unmask]>=0A=
> Sent: Thursday, October 2, 2014 9:49 AM=0A=
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Twain film redux=0A=
> =0A=
> Oh, he's playing for the camera for sure. Even in still photos Twain is=0A=
> seldom caught truly off-guard. Even his supposedly spontaneous speeches and=
> =0A=
> interview responses were usually carefully rehearsed. That looks like the=
> =0A=
> self-conscious public Mark Twain stalking about Stormfield, not the private=
> =0A=
> Mr Clemens.=0A=
> =0A=
> The little finger extended from the teacup is another good detail. Every=0A=
> time the film is viewed more little details emerge, especially if you hit=
> =0A=
> the pause button now and then. As he walks away from the front door there=
> =0A=
> appears to be a silhouette of someone standing inside the entrance. The=0A=
> curtains in the sidelights rustle in the wind, an indication that the Frenc=
> h=0A=
> doors of the dining room must have been open, creating a breeze through the=
> =0A=
> center of the house (that would also be his pathway to go around and circle=
> =0A=
> that end of the house later in the film).=0A=
> =0A=
> But the limp looks real to me. I played with the pause and the rhythm of hi=
> s=0A=
> steps does not correspond with each frame, so it's not the film --it's=0A=
> Twain. So, the question is whether it's deliberate. The posture of his hips=
> =0A=
> while at the door and the persistent limp in profile both trips around the=
> =0A=
> house, and the left side sway all seem genuine indications of a problem of=
> =0A=
> some sort. When I get time I'm going to run it past my medical friends and=
> =0A=
> seek an expert opinion.=0A=
> =0A=
> Also, it would be nice to nail down the precise date this film was made. Is=
> =0A=
> there a list of Edison's employees who might have been in the crew he sent=
> =0A=
> out that day? If so, I could check them against the two Stormfield=0A=
> guest-books. I have the original first guestbook and an old facsimile of th=
> e=0A=
> second (the original is at Hartford) and although most of the people can be=
> =0A=
> identified, quite a few of the people who signed in are not.=0A=
> =0A=
> Kevin=0A=
> @=0A=
> Mac Donnell Rare Books=0A=
> 9307 Glenlake Drive=0A=
> Austin TX 78730=0A=
> 512-345-4139=0A=
> Member: ABAA, ILAB=0A=
> *************************=0A=
> You may browse our books at:=0A=
> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com=0A=
> =0A=
> =0A=
> -----Original Message-----=0A=
> From: John Chappell=0A=
> Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2014 9:25 PM=0A=
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Twain film redux=0A=
> =0A=
> The Langdons gave the Edison film to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum=
> =0A=
> in Hannibal, as I was told in the early 1970s. It was on dangerous nitrate=
> =0A=
> stock, so 16mm prints were made from it; and a number of copies were kept=
> =0A=
> in Hannibal.=0A=
> =0A=
> When I visited Hannibal for a benefit performance around 1971, they ran=0A=
> them on a 16mm projector for me. 18 frames a second looked way too fast.=0A=
> Thinking they'd probably been shot at a slower speed, maybe 12 frames a=0A=
> second, we got access to an audio-visual Bell&Howell projector. It had=0A=
> variable speed that made it possible to see them at what was obviously a=0A=
> more correct rate.=0A=
> =0A=
> It was my opinion that Twain was intentionally playing the camera for=0A=
> humor. First, he comes out the door as if saying "Get that contraption off=
> =0A=
> my property, and be quick about it!"=0A=
> =0A=
> Next, we see him ambling past the camera but completely ignoring it,=0A=
> puffing away on his cigar. That has to have been deliberate.=0A=
> =0A=
> There's a pause following, and here he comes again wandering past camera=0A=
> again, and ignoring it again, as if he'd run madly around the house for=0A=
> another shot, but wouldn't let on to it -- oh,no -- just wander past as if=
> =0A=
> he never noticed camera or crew. Again.=0A=
> =0A=
> From an actor's view, he's working it. And doing it very well.=0A=
> =0A=
> That humor looked might Twainian to me, and to the man who ran the Becky=0A=
> Thatcher Bookshop back then. Every time I've viewed the Edison film since=
> =0A=
> I've seen that same humor.=0A=
> =0A=
> It's there again with the tea. Watch him stick his little finger out as he=
> =0A=
> lifts his teacup.=0A=
> =0A=
> They gave me one of the prints, since I wouldn't take money for the show.=
> =0A=
> After, they asked how I liked the table they'd brought to use on stage at=
> =0A=
> the high school.=0A=
> =0A=
> "That's the one, you know," they said. "From the museum. That's the one he=
> =0A=
> wrote Tom Sawyer on."=0A=
> =0A=
> Oh, my. For sure I knew I was in the right town then. Just as I knew who=0A=
> you were Susan, when I saw your photo, and that inherited nose so familiar=
> =0A=
> from many, many studies of photographs of the man.=0A=
> =0A=
> John Chappell=0A=
> =0A=
> On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 8:59 PM, Susan Bailey <[log in to unmask]>=0A=
> wrote:=0A=
> =0A=
>> Kevin, I've looked at this footage many time and I agree that it looks as=
> =0A=
>> if he has a slight limp coming around the corner but then it seems to=0A=
>> clear=0A=
>> up as he appears in front of the house. As Bob said, this could be due to=
> =0A=
>> his age.  You can see at the beginning that his right hip seems to be a=
> =0A=
>> bit=0A=
>> higher than his left.=0A=
>> =0A=
>> As a person who actually knew Clara when I was a child, I don't believe=
> =0A=
>> that is Clara on the left. And that is certainly not her in the middle.=
> =0A=
>> That woman has a widow's peak, which Clara didn't have. Clara had a stron=
> g=0A=
>> face and, in my memory was not given to girlish gestures like touching or=
> =0A=
>> smoothing back her hair.  That could be a difference in age but this just=
> =0A=
>> does not look like Clara to me.=0A=
>> =0A=
>> Regards,=0A=
>> Susan Bailey=0A=
>> =0A=
>> On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 8:43 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell <=0A=
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:=0A=
>> =0A=
>>> Well, I have me bad days and me better days, but it looks like a limp t=
> o=0A=
>>> me,=0A=
>>> especially visible as he corners the far end of the house in profile.=
> =0A=
>>> =0A=
>>> It's Jean on the left and Clara in the middle. That's not Ashcroft who=
> =0A=
>>> brings Clara her hat, nor Ossip, but likely a servant and there are=0A=
>> several=0A=
>>> candidates for that honor.=0A=
>>> =0A=
>>> Kevin=0A=
>>> @=0A=
>>> Mac Donnell Rare Books=0A=
>>> 9307 Glenlake Drive=0A=
>>> Austin TX 78730=0A=
>>> 512-345-4139=0A=
>>> Member: ABAA, ILAB=0A=
>>> *************************=0A=
>>> You may browse our books at:=0A=
>>> www.macdonnellrarebooks.com=0A=
>>> =0A=
>>> =0A=
>>> -----Original Message-----=0A=
>>> From: [log in to unmask]
>>> Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2014 6:27 PM=0A=
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: Twain film redux=0A=
>>> =0A=
>>> Kevin, you're certainly right about the wind. Those trees in the=0A=
>> background=0A=
>>> look like props from news footage of a hurricane making landfall. But=
> =0A=
>>> I'm=0A=
>>> not sure about the limp. If it's there, it's very slight -- and might=
> =0A=
>> that=0A=
>>> just be a normal state of affairs from someone in his 70s?=0A=
>>> =0A=
>>> The little explanation at the beginning says the two women in the film=
> =0A=
>> are=0A=
>>> believed to be Jean and Clara. But didn't someone here confirm a while=
> =0A=
>> back=0A=
>>> that it's Jean and Isabel Lyon? I seem to recall that, anyway. And the=
> =0A=
>> man=0A=
>>> who appears briefly -- is that Ashcroft?=0A=
>>> =0A=
>>> -- Bob G.=0A=
>>> =0A=
>> =0A=
>> =0A=
>> =0A=
>> --=0A=
>> Best regards,=0A=
>> Susan Bailey=0A=
>> Greenville, SC=0A=
>> www.marktwainonline.com=0A=
>> =