Sounds like your friend is wildly exaggerating Clemens's friendships with his "Aquarium" friends, little girls who acted as grandchildren for the old man. Some have tried to read darker motives into these relationships, and you might check out Hamlin Hill's Mark Twain: God's Fool for one interpretaiton. Look in your Twain library and look for references to the "Aquruum" or "Anglelfish." You might tell your friend that Disney made a TV movie about one of these relationships, "Mark Twain and Me" based on his friendship with the young Dorothy Quick. Tell your friend Disney was never one to bank on pedophiles, and certainly wouldn't make a movie based on such activity. wes britton [log in to unmask]