I think Gregg is being a little too quick to dismiss the possibility of
O'Neill descending fom Twain.  An inventive biographer might have some
evidence of an illegitimate branch of SLC's family tree that leads to
O'Neill; those dalliances with saloon girls might have generated an heir.

O'Neill, or his publicist, might be working on a farce right now--"The
Twainian Claimant."



--Larry Howe

 At 02:40 PM 4/6/99 -0700, you wrote:
>On Tue, 6 Apr 1999 [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
>> Has NY Yankee baseball player Paul O'Neill ever given any interviews
>> in which he's explained his claim to be a direct descendant of
>> Mark Twain?   I occasionally find his baseball cards and other
>> memorabilia for sale with the printed claim that Paul and his sister
>> (who is a writer for the New York Times) are direct descendants.
>>
>> Barb
>>
>I haven't ever heard him explain, but given the biological facts as I know
>them, the only plausible explanation is that he is descended from one of
>the mediums claimed to channel the spirit of Mark Twain.  Either that,
>or Tom Sawyer had children.
>
>                                Gregg
>