I don't know the reviewer, but I am certain I spoke to his or her descendants. I won't say who they were, either, but I wrote a letter much like Twain's that I have instructed my heirs to send 100 years after my death to the event's sponsoring organization. On Mar 28, 2013, at 5:58 PM, Scott Holmes wrote: > I greatly enjoyed the response to the review. It often reminded me of > one of Graham Chapman's characters responding to a Monty Python skit. > > On Thu, 2013-03-28 at 16:21 -0500, Tracy Wuster wrote: >> 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 Alan Kitty 609-219-9339 [log in to unmask] www.marktwainslaststand.com