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.

Susan B. Durkee to talk about Mark Twain’s Final Years in Connecticut

Sharon, CT: On Saturday, March 27th beginning at 9:30am, the Sharon Historical Society will hold its annual meeting, featuring a short business meeting and election of Trustees.

The meeting will be followed by a lecture by noted artist and amateur historian Susan B. Durkee, beginning at 10:30am.

A highlight of her talk, “Mark Twain’s Final Years in Connecticut” will be the presentation of excerpts from the documentary film, Dangerous Intimacy.

Dangerous Intimacy tells the story of how, shortly after his wife’s death in 1904, Mark Twain enjoyed the attentions of Isabel Lyon, his flirtatious – and calculating – secretary.


Dangerous Intimacy: The Untold Story of Mark Twain’s Final Years shows how Twain extricated himself from the lies, prejudice and self-delusion that almost turned him into an American Lear.

Thanks to Karen Lystra’s research, which liberates the author’s last years from a century of popular misunderstanding, we see how, late in life, this American icon discovered a deep kinship with his youngest child and experienced the interplay of love and pain that is one of the hallmarks of his work. Dangerous Intimacy was begun in February of 2007, and recently completed in the fall of 2009.

The film was produced by History Film Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1987 to create film and video works on cultural and historical subjects. Richard Altomonte, the organization’s founder, graduated from Boston University’s College of Communications with a B.S. in Filmmaking and has been a fundraiser, screenwriter and documentary producer/director for many years.

Many of the movie scenes were filmed at The Lobster Pot, the home and studio of Ms. Durkee, as well as in and around Redding, CT, and such spots as Twain’s property, “Stormfield.” Ms. Durkee may be seen in the film in the part of Jean, Twain’s daughter.

The annual meeting and lecture will take place at the Sharon Historical Society museum located at 18 Main Street in Sharon, just north of the intersection of Routes 4 and 41.

For more information call the Sharon Historical Society at (860) 364-5688 or email to Liz Shapiro at sharonhistoricalsociety@yahoo.com.

Talkin' Mark Twain Project on Cablevision

Next Tuesday March 30th on Cablevision's Channel 88 at 9:30pm. The show is called "Christina". Brent Colley, Susan B. Durkee and Heather Morgan discuss their efforts to promote Mark Twain's time in Connecticut during the Twain Centennial year of 2010.

It will also play on channel 88 in April at 8:30pm April 6th, April 13, and and April 20th.

Mark Twain Library

If you come to Redding, Connecticut to do some research on Mark Twain's time here, these are the doors you'll be walking through.

One of Twain’s final acts was approving a $6,000 check for the Library Building Fund. He dedicated the Library in the memory of his daughter Jean.

To Charles T. Lark, New York:
HAMILTON, BERMUDA. April 6, 1910

DEAR MR. LARK,–I have told Paine that I want the money derived from the sale of the farm, which I had given, but not conveyed, to my daughter Jean, to be used to erect a building for the Mark Twain Library of Redding, the building to be called the Jean L. Clemens Memorial Building.

I wish to place the money $6,000.00 in the hands of three trustees,– Paine and two others: H. A. Lounsbury and William E. Hazen, all of Redding, these trustees to form a building Committee to decide on the size and plan of the building needed and to arrange for and supervise the work in such a manner that the fund shall amply provide for the building complete, with necessary furnishings, leaving, if possible, a balance remaining, sufficient for such repairs and additional furnishings as may be required for two years from the time of completion.

Will you please draw a document covering these requirements and have it ready by the time I reach New York (April 14th).

Very sincerely,
S. L. CLEMENS.

The Mark Twain Library officially opened at its present location on February 18, 1911.



This is the entry of the Jean L. Clemens Memorial Building.

The foliage at Stormfield "was heaven and hell and sunset and rainbows and the aurora, all fused into one divine harmony, and you couldn't look at it and keep the tears back."
-S.L.C. 1909

Redding, Connecticut: Mark Twain's Last Residence

On April 15th, Brent M. Colley will present a slideshow in Watertown, Connecticut that highlights a period in Samuel L. Clemens' life which many have never seen & some never knew existed.

Colley's passion for Twain was kindled by the 2002 Ken Burns documentary, Mark Twain:

"Burns opened the flood gates so-to-speak. It was the volume of requests for information about his time in Redding, following the documentary's release, that initiated my interest in his life. People were shocked to find out he lived and died in Redding."

In answering questions about the twilight years of Samuel L. Clemens' life, Colley discovered that his time in Redding was a significant period in his life:

"It was just 1 year and 6 months, if you subtract the time he spent in Bermuda, and yet so much happened. The problem is that his years in Redding have not been properly documented, and as a result there are many questions, conflicting theories & opinions that need to be clarified."

Books that explore Twain's time in Redding are coming out left and right and yet not one author has spend a significant amount of time in Redding to research their subject's final destination. That's vexatious to Mr. Colley:

"If you are going to write about his time in Redding, thoroughly research Redding. There are archives in Redding's Mark Twain Library that no one has seen. I mean that. There are things I have not seen and I've been in the archives quite a bit. These authors do a "drive-by" and think they know all there is to know."

The slideshow Mr. Colley will present at Walker Hall: "Celebrating Twain's Redding" covers everything you ever wanted to know about the great author's final home, with many interesting facts, stories and rare photos to illustrate the timeline:

"It was a very short time period but a very eventful one that many find enthralling. It's a fun presentation to give."



The Watertown Historical Society talk is April 15th, 7pm at Walker Hall. Walker Hall is a stone building across the street from the Town Hall in Watertown, Connecticut.

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Additional Speaking Engagements in Connecticut:

Easton, Connecticut Historical Society
Topic: Mark Twain & Helen Keller. Thursday, April 8, 2010.
Open to the Public.

Cheney Hall in Manchester, Connecticut
Topic: The 55 Connecticut Towns & Cities Connected to Mark Twain
The Association for the Study of Connecticut History (ASCH), Manchester Historical Society and Little Theatre of Manchester will co-sponsor the spring 2010 ASCH meeting on Saturday, April 10 at Cheney Hall in Manchester, CT.
Open to the Public. Registration & Fees required.

Connecticut Twain-Themed Tourism Project

We have launched the new web site. It's a mini-site really but it will serve as an example of what we can do and where people can access information on Mark Twain's Connecticut.

Featured on the homepage are four of our favorite Mark Twain tourist attractions: The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Fort Trumbull in New London, Gillette Castle in East Haddam and the Mark Twain Library in Redding.


1. "(Our House) had a heart, and a soul...we were in its confidence, and lived in its grace..." -Mark Twain 1896. Clemens and his family lived in this 19-room mansion in the Nook Farm neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut for 20+ years.

2. Clemens and his wife loaned Will Gillette the three thousand dollars which tided him through his period of dramatic education. Their faith in his ability was justified.

3. Twain's Short Story "A Curious Experience" begins:

"This is the story which the Major told me, as nearly as I can recall it:-- In the winter of 1862-3, I was commandant of Fort Trumbull, at New London, Conn."

4. Clemens' most important legacy to Redding remains, in the Mark Twain Library Association that he founded shortly after he moved to town.


This project is all about increasing awareness of Mark Twain's time in Connecticut by showcasing the people and places connected to him across the State.

Support the effort by spreading the word. Together we can build a Twain-themed tourism trail.

We Need a Venue for Fund Raising Event

Alan Kitty has offered to bring his one-man-show "Mark Twain's Last Stand" to the Southwestern Connecticut area to help us raise fund for our Connecticut Tourism Project.

The show recalls Mark Twain’s “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” - a social satire and sci-fi fantasy delivered before its time. But the genre was just getting started then. Today, time-travel is a popular theme among both science fiction writers and scientists.

Alan Kitty’s vision & talent brings Twain in an instant from the nineteenth century into the present....you can read about that here: http://www.marktwainslaststand.com/Mark%20Twain%20Improv.htm

We need a venue...a big venue where we can raise as much money as possible. We are looking to Fall 2010 for the event.

Please spread the word, we need funding.

The ultimate goal of this project is to make Connecticut a destination for Mark Twain tourism and research in the future. The project is based on Illinois' successful "Looking for Lincoln" tourism project.

With 55 Connecticut towns and cities now connected to Mark Twain, and many of these connections relating to existing museums and/or public buildings...the only thing we need now is funding.