Thanks to Peg Wherry for her spirited defense of William Dean Howells. He was a dear and tortured man whose friendship with SLC comprised only a small part o f his contribution to American letters. It seems to me though that the story of the friendship between the great writers has been inaccuratedly recorded, at least as far as its beginnings go. The editors of the _Twain-Howells Letters_ conclude that the two enjoyed an immediate rapport when they met in 1869 or 1870, but it seems likelier that their relationship was more professional than personal until about 1875, when SLC chose to go to Boston for the weekend to introduce Livy and Elinor Howells rather than attend the wedding of his beloved niece Annie to Charles Webster, nuptials which would not have taken place had he not told his sister Pamela to let Annie marry whom she chose. By the early 1880s, when SLC and Howells were laughing themselves sick with their sophomoric efforts at playwriting -- and "Colonel Sellers as Scientist" is an unplayable mess -- they were closer, but not so close that Clemens doesn't feel pretty easy about double-dealing Howells out of some theatrical opportunities. For example, when it becomes clear that their jopint "Colonel Sellers" won't fly with a certain produce, SLC tries to turn the relationship the two men worked out with the producer to his own solitary benefit, hoping to sell an adaptation of "Tom Sawyer" to him. A good book could come from this relationship, akin to Margaret Duckett's _MT and Bret Harte_, only not quite so terrifyingly harsh. andy hoffman