MARK TWAIN
MARK TWAIN BIOGRAPHY
1835-1910
Mark Twain was a GENIUS American author, novelist, satirist
and humorist, who is most famous for writing "The Adventures Of Tom
Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Twain was BORN as HALLEY'S
COMET passed over Earth and VOWED to DIE with the COMET'S RETURN in 75
YEARS - - AND HE DID!
Mark Twain, was born Samuel Clemens on November 30,
1835 in Florida, Missouri.
Samuel Clemens was the sixth child of seven children, but only 3
of his siblings survived. He was born in the year Halley's Comet
passed the Earth. Clemens spent his boyhood in Hannibal,
Missouri, near the Mississippi river. His father died when he
was 12 years old, so he began taking jobs as a printer's
apprentice, a riverboat pilot, and a newspaper man.
Clemens took his his pseudonym, "Mark Twain", from the
riverboat term for the depth of water.
Twain had become known for
his stories of his boyhood memories and adventures, including
the well-known "The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer"
(1876) and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1885), which became a classic
masterpiece of fiction writing and the FIRST
MODERN AMERICAN novel.
Twain wrote the
famous "The Prince and the Pauper"
(1882).
Twain began traveling and using his travel experiences as
subjects in his books. He had a very straight-forward style of writing,
sounding like common people talked. Twain also began writing
satirical works, including "A Connecticut
Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1889)
about a time traveler introducing modern technology to England.
Twain
was a friend of
Nikola Tesla
and visited his laboratory
in 1899 to see his inventions for himself. He became very famous,
popular and prosperous with his book sales and was a humorous
lecturer. Twain even started his own publishing firm.
In 1890, Mark Twain became
bankrupt due to bad investments in a typesetting machine. His
oldest daughter died in 1896, then his wife died in 1904, then
another daughter died in 1909. Twain became depressed and began
writing pessimistic works, including "Letters
From the Earth"
(published in 1962).
Mark Twain began wearing his trademark
white suit in 1906 in
front of the Library of Congress arguing a bill for author's
copyright protections. In 1907, Twain was awarded an honorary
Doctorate in Letters from Oxford University when he was 71 years
old. Twain obtained a publishing contract to get out of debt and
begin living the high life.
In 1909, Mark Twain said he
was born with Halley's Comet
and believed he was meant to go out with the famous comet, which
was due to return in 1910. The day after
Halley's Comet was closest to the earth, Mark Twain suffered a
heart attack and died on April 21, 1910.
Mark Twain was a genius American author and humorist
who influenced other great authors, including Ernest Hemingway
and Kurt Vonnegut.