Yes, lots of these. Twichell and Howells wrote a ton of stuff; Archibald Henderson's little book of about 1912 is interesting too. There's also a collection, ed. Gary Scharnhorst, from Iowa Press; (that whole series from Iowa is interesting with good books about Poe, Alcott, Stowe, Lincoln, etc...)
https://www.uipress.uiowa.edu/books/9781587299148/twain-in-his-own-time
[https://www.uipress.uiowa.edu/sites/uipress/files/styles/thumbnail/public/attached_images/scharnhorst.jpg?itok=Dwj4uixk]<https://www.uipress.uiowa.edu/books/9781587299148/twain-in-his-own-time>
Twain in His Own Time | University of Iowa Press<https://www.uipress.uiowa.edu/books/9781587299148/twain-in-his-own-time>
www.uipress.uiowa.edu
“Unlike the modulated tone of formal biography, there is a good deal of spice in these often wonderful stories, conclusions, and judgments about Mark Twain.
Dr. Hal Bush
Dept. of English
Saint Louis University
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314-977-3616
http://halbush.com
author website: halbush.com
________________________________
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Dave Davis <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2019 8:52:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Writings about Twain by those who knew him
A quick search uncovers this lead:
"Untitled <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__twain.lib.virginia.edu_sc-5Fas-5Fmt_obitap3.html&d=DwIBaQ&c=Pk_HpaIpE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ&r=Vm4EniPHDefodxmypnmkMA&m=phLnj9ctO4Kg5cpll8Y9CGs_aDtzqQ3EFGTrsmlcFh4&s=YsHvYSc34v1N0BrzJl1opw_wIc0MLE5oAIvYH38g5Qk&e= >," 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://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__books.google.com_books-3Fid-3DfmlCBAAAQBAJ-26pg-3DPT1528-26dq-3D-2522henry-2Bvan-2Bdyke-2522-2B-2522mark-2Btwain-2522-26hl-3Den-26sa-3DX-26ei-3DMMC-2DVO7rE8aoNpHhg5gM-26ved-3D0CDUQ6AEwBTgK-23v-3Donepage-26q-3D-2522henry-2520van-2520dyke-2522-2520-2522mark-2520twain-2522-26f-3Dfalse&d=DwIBaQ&c=Pk_HpaIpE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ&r=Vm4EniPHDefodxmypnmkMA&m=phLnj9ctO4Kg5cpll8Y9CGs_aDtzqQ3EFGTrsmlcFh4&s=a_pxhj9DngYM0pgNTgnvKub9u-aY03cLPA1KepykKkU&e= >
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 <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.twainquotes.com_19100424a.html&d=DwIBaQ&c=Pk_HpaIpE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ&r=Vm4EniPHDefodxmypnmkMA&m=phLnj9ctO4Kg5cpll8Y9CGs_aDtzqQ3EFGTrsmlcFh4&s=l0O2ESIVkniEGQOZGvePLkguEJix0VR5QVxbSyKp3sk&e= >
wrote, "Throughout it was evident that the speaker was making a strong
effort to keep down his emotion and control his voice.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__mentalfloss.com_article_61227_11-2Deulogies-2Dwriters-2Dwritten-2Dwriters&d=DwIBaQ&c=Pk_HpaIpE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ&r=Vm4EniPHDefodxmypnmkMA&m=phLnj9ctO4Kg5cpll8Y9CGs_aDtzqQ3EFGTrsmlcFh4&s=gTU5MDSVnX90TrqMfni4TnSDRsQ0cQKlTtauYuz8eCE&e=
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
>
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