Kent R. might know, he and I worked on many letters to Twain, and it sounds vaguely familiar to me. Jules -----Original Message----- From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tracy Wuster Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 5:22 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Tracking down a scoundrel Hello all, In "My Father Mark Twain," Clara tells the story of how Twain would write but not send letters to vent his anger. She gives the example (p69-70) of a letter to a man who had written an unsigned review of Twain's Jamestown, N.Y. lecture in 1870. Roughly 16 years later, this man wrote to Twain asking for help obtaining a consulship, to which Twain offered to instead provide a rope or a burial permit. The critique of Twain's lecture is quite funny in how it so blatantly missed the point, and I would be tempted to call it a satire, if not for Twain's letter. The review is on Stephen Railton's site (scroll down): http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/onstage/sandrev4.html Does anyone have any guesses on the identity of the reviewer? I searched through the letters online at the MTP and didn't have any luck making the connection, so I thought I would seek out some help. Thanks in advance, Tracy Wuster