The Countdown to April 21st Begins

We're finally within a month of the Centennial. As mentioned in the previous post, Susan B. Durkee, will be talking about Mark Twain and Isabel Lyon this weekend in Sharon CT.

Susan has a special connection with Twain and Isabel as she lives in the Lobster Pot, which is the first property Twain purchased in Redding, Connecticut and the location of the house Isabel lived in and so lovingly restored.

In other Twain news- there has been increasing interest in Mark Twain's life in Connecticut with the Centennial just around the corner and many local newspapers and magazines have run stories recently. The Redding Pilot just ran a nice little piece on Twain, Dan Beard and the Boy Scouts connection to Redding.

The Associated Press has visited Redding recently and is planning an article on Twain's final writings.

Friday, Newsweek is meeting us at the Mark Twain House in Hartford to view their archives and take a special tour of the house and grounds. Later this month we hope to have them down to Redding to showcase what we have to offer as well. The hope is that with the Nationwide attention we can spur local interest in our Twain-themed tourism project.

On the events calendar..."Tom Sawyer" -- The Opera? Yep. At Mark Twain House in Hartford. "Tom Sawyer," the chamber opera by Phillip Marton will receive its world premiere April 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m. and April 18 at 2 p.m. at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut.

Other than that...I've been using Twitter to spread the news on #Twain2010. You can follow me at:

http://www.twitter.com/BrentMColley -Personal account w/ Twain events and news.

http://www.twitter.com/HeavenlyTwain -Twain tweets from Heaven. So much fun!

http://www.twitter.com/HellFireTwain -Twain tweets from Hell. Why not?

Oh and before I forget, if you're in or near NYC: 2 hour NYC Mark Twain tours on Saturdays and Sundays all through April. Call 917-620-5371 or send an email to mtc@salwen.com. $15 donation. All tours have a 1pm start.