Twain did have red hair; don't know about this "apparent self-report" of brown hair. An unfinished article of mine, for a scholarly Twain journal, makes note of Twain's red hair--a point which the esteemed editor corroborated in his critique, though the fact is "seldom mentioned and...not widely known." In fact, he suggested this as a possible area for further study. I may yet re-work my article into one about Twain and his "Red-Headed League" of friends, which included the famed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The red-hair issue is further corroborated by William Dean Howells in _My Mark Twain_, who commented on his friend's "splended shock of red hair." Howells is certainly an authority. (An aside: Last I knew, the wax museum at the Haunted House on Hill Street, in Hannibal, had Twain incorrectly sporting dark brown eyes! Twain's daughter, Susy, wrote that "Papa always wares [sic] grey to match his hair and eyes.") There are those out there on the Forum with electronic Search capabilities that I lack; but that our hero's head was of the firey variety, in both the literal and the figurative sense, is without question. Regards, Mary Leah Christmas