Hal, From Neider's "Papa" introduction on, I've never seen anything more than intriguing speculation on the relationship between Susy Clemens and Louise Brownell; meaning nothing conclusive one way or another. Tom Tenney brought this to my attention before the Neider book was published, and, well, gee, folks, even the doubtful among us must raise an eyebrow at the sheer intensity of the letters. But as Wes already has pointed out, some concessions must be made to "19th century vocabulary and behavior." That doesn't add any new insight to the discussion, but did you know that Susy's friendship with Louise created a link to another great Southern writer who settled in the Northeast? Louise Brownell, who taught English literature at Cornell, married Dr. Arthur Percy Saunders in 1901. She named her second daughter Olivia, and Susy's full name was, of course, Olivia Susan Clemens. How's that for intriguing? Known as Via, Olivia Saunders became the first wife of Tennessee native James Agee, whose works included acclaimed novels ("A Death in the Family" and "The Morning Watch"), poetry ("Permit Me Voyage"), journalism ("Let Us Now Praise Famous Men"), film criticism ("Agee on Film") and screenplays ("The African Queen" and "The Night of the Hunter"). Impressive for a writer who only lived to be 45. He was posthumously award the Pulitzer Prize for "A Death in the Family." Via was interviewed at great length for documentary filmmaker Ross Spears' Oscar-nominated biography, "Agee." She gave no indication of knowing that she may have been named for Mark Twain's daughter (who was named for Mark Twain's wife). And Ross and other Agee scholars I've known have been unaware of the Twain connection. None of that is helpful, I'm sure, but there you go, trivia buffs: a few more scraps for the intrigue pile. Mark Dawidziak