Pete S And should we think of Judge Thatcher as his enabler? Pete Salwen “Books are the liberated spirits of men” — Mark Twain ________________________________ From: Jerry Vorpahl <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Fri, September 3, 2010 4:59:52 PM Subject: Re: Twain and alcohol I doubt there was such a thing as alcohol "abuse" or "addiction" in Twain's time. There was drunk and there was sober. These nonjudgmental euphemisms (along with "affliction, problem, dependence, et al) came with our PC society. Did Huck's Pa have an addiction to alcohol? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Terry Ballard" <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Friday, September 3, 2010 12:43:03 PM Subject: Re: Twain and alcohol You might want to check out Mark Twain: Man in white by Michael Sheldon, which details the last four years of Twain's life. There are several stories about binge drinking late at night - once at his apartment on 5th Ave and once at Stormfield. In both cases, Isabel Lyon had to get him moved to bed. The book is highly recommended: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780679448006.html Terry Ballard Assistant Director of Technical Services for Library Systems New York Law School, Mendik Library 185 W. Broadway New York, NY, 10013 Telephone: 212-431-2106 Web: www.terryballard.org Blog: librariansonedge.blogspot.com Tweets: twitter.com/terryballard "Things always seem darkest just before the bottom drops out." Arthur Lifshin -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gregg Camfield Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 2:48 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Twain and alcohol On Christmas eve, 1863, in Virginia City, Clemens and Charles Farrar Browne (aka Artemus Ward) got so drunk that they ran across the rooftops (Letters 1: pp269-70, n 5). In San Francisco, he and his roomate, Steve Gillis, would drink beer and then chuck the bottles on the roofs of the houses below (Letters 1, 15 July 1864, to William Wright, pp 303-304). I'm not sure if these are examples of abusing alcohol or of abusing the neighbors. Gregg=20 ----- Original Message ----- From: Chet Manchester <[log in to unmask]> Date: Friday, September 3, 2010 10:59 am Subject: Twain and alcohol To: [log in to unmask] > Does anyone on the forum know if Sam Clemens ever abused alcohol, especially > toward the end of his life? Did he turn to the bottle to ease his=20 > pain or > grief? When he lectured, was he ever known to appear on stage drunk? > Did > he ever use alcohol to calm his nerves before a public performance? =20 > Lastly, > is there any possibility that he successfully hid an alcohol=20 > addiction from > his family and others? > =20 > Thanks for any insights and sources you can offer on this subject. > =20 > - C.H. Stewart > =20