As a dedicated Marxist, I was especially tickled by the agents' misspelling
of his first name as "Graucho" in the documents. It tells me G-men didn't get
out much, and if they did, they shunned comedy. Of course by the beginning of
the McCarthy era, the brothers' career was pretty much over except for
Groucho's. It had to be the subversiveness of his humor, because Harpo made
two trips to the Soviet Union in the 1930s and the FBI never bothered him.
Then again, the clueless agents probably believed Harpo really couldn't speak.
(He could, and well enough to hold his own with members of the Algonquin Round
Table.)

	I suspect our Sam would have reacted to such pryings into his private life
with the appropriate, and appropriately corrosive, wit. If you know anything
about Groucho at all (and I know more than most people do, or probably
should), one thing is that he revered Twain as much as any intelligent and
gifted dispenser of wit has in the last century or so. His books—notably
MEMOIRS OF A MANGY LOVER—and particularly his letters are brilliantly funny
and worth checking out if you haven't yet. Most of his stuff is still in
print.

	Hooray for Captain Spaulding, the African explorer! (Did someone call me
schnorrer?)
	
	Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

Kathy O'Connell
Hartford Advocate