Also, I'd have to dig around to find this, but I seem to remember seeing
some letters that Mr. Clemens signed "Mark Twain".  So, perhaps it had to do
with the level of intimacy of the friendship, or a sort of coyness during
the conversation (whether it be in person, or in print)?

Michael

On Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 10:18 AM, Steve Courtney <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Dear Camy,
>
> His friend Joe Twichell always addressed Clemens as "Mark" as a nickname,
> and often referred to him in his journal as "M.T."
>
> By the way, Twichell was exactly the kind of person you felt you wanted to
> be toward the writer in your previous missive, inviting him in and letting
> him be himself; Twichell and his wife Harmony did exactly that, both in the
> early days when Clemens was courting and needed  advice and counsel, and in
> later life when he wrote virulent letters on politics and humanity. "I give
> you free leave to syphon out to me all such secretions whenever they
> accumulate to the point of discomfort," Twichell answered on of these
> letters.
>
> And after Susie died in 1896, Clemens wrote that Twichell was the only one
> he wanted to correspond with because he had "the touch that heals, not
> lacerates."
>
> Steve
>
> Steve Courtney
> 7 Union St.
> Terryville, CT 06786
> 860-589-6412
> [log in to unmask]
> www.josephhopkinstwichell.com
>
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:25:11 -0400
> > From: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Addressing Mark Twain as "mark"
> > To: [log in to unmask]
>  >
> > Dear Group:
> > Though I have read several biographies, I do not remember if the
> question I
> > am asking was ever answered. Did anyone actually call Twain "mark" when
> > they greeted him? My assumption is that Mark Twain was his name only in
> > writing or in introducing him. I also assume, perhaps incorrectly, that
> he
> > was rarely addressed as Mark".
> > I was just wondering.
> > Camy
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get in touch in an instant. Get Windows Live Messenger now.
>
> http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_getintouch_042008
>