Annual Mark Twain Library Book Fair

The Annual Mark Twain Book Fair is August 29 - September 1. Daily from 9am to 5pm. Redding Community Center, Lonetown Road (Route 107) Redding CT. Free parking, no admission fee, bargains abound, air-conditioned comfort, handicapped accessible, refreshments sold.

This is "officially" the 48th Annual Fair but the fund raising concept of the fair dates way back to the very beginnning. Coley Taylor described the early days of the fair in his recollections published by American Heritage in 1985 "Our Neighbor, Mark Twain":

"Mark Twain donated a large number of books from his own collection to the library. They were housed in the seldom used old chapel facing the ancient but still used Umpawaug Cemetery. A librarian was on hand Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Twain secured donations from many friends, including Andrew Carnegie, and publishers. At a meeting to promote the library on October 7, 1908, he read a statement that he had composed for the occasion.

There was a woman's group that met fairly often to sew clean strips of rags of all colors and fabrics for making braided rugs to sell at an annual fair for the library building fund. We children went to the meetings too; there were no baby-sitters then; we could roll the long strips into balls. It was my job to turn the ice-cream freezer for the cake-and-ice cream binge later.

The annual fair was held in August to attract the summer people, who would leave for their homes by Labor Day. There were not many in Redding but the lake resorts near Danbury and a noted summer colony in nearby Ridgefield provided the necessary crowds, together with local residents. All kinds of things were sold at the fair: cakes, pies, jellies, pickles, canned fruits in glass jars, salads, the rag rugs, and second hand furniture, which was grabbed up as antiques. A long picnic table under a tent was loaded with food, provided luncheon for the guests- at a price, of course."

Two Posts in a Week after One Month of Silence

I can explain...one man, three business interests, two children under four. Between all three businesses ( 2 non-profit, 1 for-profit) and the kids it's been quite a summer but I'm still a Twainiac at heart.

New material is on the horizon I promise! The Mark Twain Library website is close to launch with a new, improved look and the Mark Twain Library's 100th Anniversary Celebrations continue. There are a number of exciting events at the Library this fall - an Open House Birthday Celebration at the Library on Saturday 10/11, Huck Finn Discussion groups on 10/2, 10/9. 10/16 and 10/23, the "Hurray For Huck!" Finale on 11/2, and a past & present Board of Trustees and staff reunion on 11/1.

As I've mentioned, if you do not have a copy of the most recent Mark Twain Journal get one. Kevin Mac Donnell has done an amazing job of both explaining and showcasing Stormfield through photos, maps, blueprints and text. A must have for those interested in Sam's time in Redding.

My efforts to shed further light on "Twain's Redding" are still a work in progress, funding is non-existant so I'm in the process of grant writing (yet again) while continuing to gather information, promote local efforts and flesh out new sources of data.

"The lack of money is the root of all evil."
- More Maxims of Mark, Johnson, 1927

Books & Articles That Include Information on Stormfield

Bispham, David. A Quaker Singer's Recollections. New York: MacMillan, 1920.

Clemens, Clara. My Father Mark Twain. New York: Harper, 1931.

Cooley, John. Mark Twain's Aquarium, the Samuel Clemens Angelfish Correspondence, 1905-1910. Athens: Univ. of Georgia Press, 1991.

Harnsberger, Caroline. Mark Twain's Clara or What Became of the Clemens Family. Evanston: The Press of Ward Schori, 1982.

Henderson, Archibald. Mark Twain. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1910.

Hill, Hamlin. Mark Twain, God's Fool. New York: Harper & Row, 1973.

Howells, William Dean. My Mark Twain, Reminiscences and Criticisms. New York: Harper, 1910.

Lawton, Mary. A Lifetime with Mark Twain, the Memories of Katy Leary, for Thirty Years His Faithful and Devoted Servant. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1925.

"The Lounger" Putnam Magazine, December 1909, 369-70

Lystra, Karen. Dangerous Intimacy, the Untold Story of Mark Twain's Final Years. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 2004.

"Mark Twain's House at Redding, Connecticut." The American Architect, February 10, 1909, p.51.

"Mark Twain's New Home at Redding." Harper's Weekly, July 4, 1908, p. 24, 29.

Paine, Albert Bigelow Paine. Mark Twain, a Biography. New York: Harper, 1912. 3 volumes.

"Stormfield, Mark Twain's New Country Home." Country Life in America, April 1909, p. 607-11 & 650-51.

Taylor, Coley B. Mark Twain's Margins on Thackeray's "Swift" New York: Gotham House, 1935.

Taylor, Coley B. "Our Neighbor Mark Twain" American Heritage, February-March, 1985. p. 102-107.

Williams, Henry. In the Clutch of Circumstance, My Own Story, by a Burglar. New York: Appleton. 1922.

Celebrating a Century :: 1908-2008

The Mark Twain Library's 100th Anniversary is just around the corner and in celebration a new sculpture recently arrived on the grounds of the library. It's a very fitting sculpture because as John Cooley notes in his introduction to Mark Twain's Aquarium: "Clemens devoted his career to writing about children, including important childhood characters and themes in novels, several novelettes, and a host of stories, essays and sketches. For Clemens, childhood was the most important time -the central experience- of life."

Rare Stormfield Photos Released

This summer's Mark Twain Journal is now available and it showcases Stormfield! Kevin MacDonnell's amazing collection of Stormfield photos are the highlight of the journal, it also contains a great deal of information on the house and house events. Kevin explained in a recent Mark Twain Forum post:

"You will indeed get a good sense of the interior, and I describe the concert as well. There were 525 people there, but only 160 got inside the house. Ticket prices varied according to the room, from $1.50 down to 50 cents. I list about 40 sources on Stormfield (book, newspaper and magazine articles) including Bispham's 1920 memoir."

"I hope my article makes for fun and informative reading for thoseexcited by the 100th anniversay of Stormfield. It's a "virtual tour" created by using forty-one photos from my own archives (most of them previously unpublished), as well as the original floorplans and plate map of the house and grounds. I also include a guessing game at the end using twelve more photos (some previosuly unpublished) from the Mark Twain Papers at Berkeley.

I plotted the location and field of vision for each photo on the original architect's floorplans and plat maps so that the reader can trace them in sequence and gain a sense of the physical feel of Stormfield. I also describe the physical structure and construction of Stormfield in more detail than ever before, as part of my effort to create the physical presence of the place. My goal was not to retell the story of events that took place at Stormfield but instead to present the physical presence of this home now long lost, so that readers of Ham Hill and Karen Lystra can now visualize where all of those events at the end of Twain's life actually took place. I am extremely grateful to the ever-helpful folks at the Mark
Twain Papers, Hartford, Hannibal, and elsewhere who assisted me in my research, and special thanks to Tom Tenney who will happily sell anyone a copy of the MTJ to anyone who contacts him."

The journal is available by subscription. http://www.marktwainjournal.com/mtj_personal_order_form.html

Mark Twain's 100th a Success!

The Mark Twain Library's 100th anniversary party was quite a success. There was standing room only in the Jean L. Clemens Memorial Building for the 100th annual meeting. After a short but eventful meeting, the 2008 Wit and Wisdom Award was a awarded for "Mark Twain as a Young Playwright" (which was amazing) and then the floor was turned over to me to present (gulp) 100 years of Redding history.

Just as a side story, as I'm sitting in the entry way (that was the only place left to sit) and awaiting my turn at the podium my mind began to wander a bit as I thought about how Mr. Clemens must have felt as he made his way to the new house. I thought of Louise Paine and her excitment, imagine being a young girl and experiencing such a grand occasion first hand. I also thought of Isabelle Lyon, his private secretary, and the anxiety she much have been feeling- hoping and praying (perhaps) that the decisions she had made would meet Sam's approval. Just then a thunder clap sounded outside and I thought "how fitting... a storm for Stormfield's 100th anniversary...now I just hope its not too big of a storm and we keep power!"

We kept power and I kept my composure weaving through a short history of Twain's time in Redding, the founding of the library and onto 100 years of Redding history. 100 years is extensive and a lot happened so I didn't get to cover everything but I highlighted the important areas and focused quite a bit on what makes Redding special...open space. Redding's rural character is a huge asset and we all need to continue to work to keep it. In the coming weeks I'll be adding photos and information to the HistoryofRedding.com that highlights Redding's history from 1908 to 2008, I'll also be adding more photos of Twain, his house and the library.

So stay tuned...oh, almost forgot...the 100th anniversary vodka has arrived. Jay Harmon of Nantucket's Cisco Brewers shipped it out last week, it's his cranberry vodka which I'm told is mighty tasty. I only ordered a case (6 bottles) so at the moment I'm trying to decide if they will go up for auction or be used to thank volunteers.

100 Year Anniversary of Clemens Arrival in Redding

It's almost here, June 18th is the 100th anniversary of Twain's arrival in Redding. This is a date I've been looking forward to for quite sometime and it's now less than a week away. In celebration of the anniversary the library has invited me to present a slideshow on 100 years of Redding history. I'm thrilled to be a part of their historic 100th annual meeting and have been working on my presentation for weeks. The task of consolidating 100 years of town history and Twain's time on Redding into a 30-40 minute slideshow is daunting but I have complete confidence that a mixture of wit & wisdom, not to mention some pretty amazing photos will buy me an extra 15 minutes or so...at least that's the plan at the moment!

If you live in Fairfield County or close to it, come on down to Redding on Wednesday night. The Annual Meeting begins at 7pm and the slideshow will start around 7:30pm. I have never presented my photos of Redding and I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to show them again so if you love history and Mark Twain this is an event you'll want to attend. Hope to see you there!