Kevin-- That's great. I had figured out from your clues that it was Horace, but my google searching didn't come up with anything, and I hadn't tracked the weep part of your clue. I was tickled to hear the answer. I can imagine most of his contemporaries waxing poetic at great length in the their answers, only to have his pithy response trump them all. I look forward to your next puzzle. This should be a regular feature of the forum, not all the time given how much it would absorb your energy, but quarterly wouldn't be too much to ask of you. --LH ________________________________________ From: Mark Twain Forum [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kevin Mac Donnell [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2010 4:20 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Contest Over! Mark Twain's Shortest Publishing Writing... With no correct answers, I've decided to declare the contest over. The correct answer is YES. Here's the context--- The magazine, The Critic, sent a question out to a number of authors = posing a question based on a maxim by Horace in DE ARTE POETICA LIBER: = "Is it necessary that an author who wishes his readers to weep should = first weep himself?" Twain's reply, in a letter from Hartford dated March 9, 1888, was simply = "Yes" and appeared in the March 24, 1888 issue of the magazine (p. 136) = along with replies from many other authors, all of whom gave longer = replies, some bordering on short essays. Among the bloviators were = Edward Eggleston, Edward Everett Hale, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Frances = Hodgson Burnett, Thomas Janvier, George W. Cable, Howard Pyle, Brander = Matthews, George Parsons Lathrop, Frank R. Stockton, and others. Quite a = few of these other authors were friends of Twain. To modern eyes, the = question posed might seem maudlin, but it was posed at the height of = American realism, and had genuine contemporary relevance. After all, a = few years later Stephen Crane wrote a war story without having fought in = battle himself. Twain's reply could have been shorter if he'd replied in = the negative, but his affirmative reply should not be surprising = considering that his greatest works were largely autobiographical, drawn = from the people and places and events he'd experienced himself. All Mark = Twain Forum members probably share a regret that he did not explain his = answer. For the full text of the article and replying letters in The = Critic, go to Google Books and search the keywords "Twain Horace weep = Critic" and enjoy. I've still got this extra copy of WHO IS MARK TWAIN? and if somebody has = an idea for a contest question, let me know... Kevin @ Mac Donnell Rare Books 9307 Glenlake Drive Austin TX 78730 512-345-4139 Member: ABAA, ILAB ************************* You may browse our books at=20 www.macdonnellrarebooks.com =20 =20 =20 Kevin @ Mac Donnell Rare Books 9307 Glenlake Drive Austin TX 78730 512-345-4139 Member: ABAA, ILAB ************************* You may browse our books at=20 www.macdonnellrarebooks.com