Dear Twain Community,

On August 21, 1868, Sam Clemens left New York City by train for Elmira, New
York to visit the Langdon family, more specifically to call on Olivia
Langdon, the daughter of community leader Jervis Langdon, and older sister
to Sam’s friend, Charley Langdon, whom he had met the year before on
the *Quaker
City *excursion.  Sam arrived that late August day….. and the rest is
history.

The Center of Mark Twain Studies is celebrating Mark Twain's
sesquicentennial anniversary of first arriving in Elmira.  We are honoring
this event with the launch of the *Quarry Farm Legacy Preservation Campaign
*and a celebration of leaders and benefactors who have made a positive
difference in Elmira and the Mark Twain Studies community.

My colleague, Matt Seybold, has written written an essay about Mark Twain's
effect on the town where he was married, buried, and spent over twenty
summers writing some of the most iconic works in American literature.  He
also explains how Elmira has a deep impact on the author himself.  Matt's
essay can be found here:

http://marktwainstudies.com/150-years-of-mark-twain-in-elmira
-dickens-holidays-the-gospel-of-revolt-the-quarry-farm-style/

If you would like to learn more about the Quarry Farm Legacy Preservation
Campaign, the urgent preservation needs of Quarry Farm, and how you can
help out, please click on the following link:

http://marktwainstudies.com/cmts
-launches-the-quarry-farm-preservation-campaign-and-needs-you/

CMTS is dedicated to serving an international community of scholars and
educators by fostering and supporting scholarship and pedagogy related to
all aspects of Mark Twain Studies.  We are here to serve you!  As many of
you know, Quarry Farm is a special place.  Please take some time to read
the essays.  If you are willing to help out - or know an organization or an
individual who wants to assist us in our preservation efforts - please let
me know.

Take care,
Joe Lemak

Dr. Joseph Lemak
Director of the Center for Mark Twain Studies
Elmira College
The Rose Office, Cowles Hall
(607) 735-1941
MarkTwainStudies.org, the official website of CMTS