> >2. I am wondering if there are any works or scholars > >interested in how the > >river served specifically as a mean of transmitting culture > >and change > >among the communities served by it? Did Twain write about the > >river in > >these kinds of terms? > > >Dr. Harold K. Bush, Jr., Associate Professor > >Dept. of English > >Saint Louis University > >St. Louis, MO 63108 > >[log in to unmask] > >314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) 314-495-4094 (cell) > ><www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/ENG/faculty/hbush.html> Two early books come to mind that touch on this theme in a way. Glazier's DOWN THE GREAT RIVER (1887) is one, and Clifton Johnson's book on the Mississippi River Valley from his Highway and Byways series at the turn-of-the-century is the other, nicely illustrated with photos, with some focus on black culture and river towns, and even an account of Twain's visit to Hannibal and his encounter with a black family living in the old Tom Blankenship home. But these are not books by scholars, nor literary, but of possible interest because they appeared in Twain's lifetime. Kevin Mac Donnell Austin TX