Thank goodness Mark Twain failed as a newspaper reporter…
November 30, 2010
If you are a fan of Mark Twain ( 11.20.1835- 4.21.1910)— 2010 being the centennial of Mark Twain’s death—you will find yourself in your heyday. The centennial of his death brings more events than one can keep track of.
Living in San Francisco makes me proud to know that the city played a significant role in Mark Twain’s life as a writer. It was here that he hit rock bottom as a newspaper reporter to finally find his true calling as a writer of literature. After his humiliating departure from the world of newspaper reporting, he headed off to Jackass Hill, near the Gold Rush hill of Angels Camp. After hearing a tall tale about a jumping frog, he returned to San Francisco and wrote “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog”, later retitled, “ The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” which became an instant success. The success of Jumping Frog convinced Twain of his true gift as a writer. Near the end of his stay in San Francisco, he wrote to his brother Oion: “I have had a ‘call” to literature, of a low order—i.e. humorous.’ It is nothing to be proud of, but it is my strongest suit…”
Most people have their favorite piece of Twain writing and hands down, mine is, The Diaries of Adam and Eve ,(circa 1905) The Diaries has all the fundamentals we expect from Twain—humor, wisdom, and irreverence and also delivers a love story of a most unusual ilk—honest, poignant, and heartfelt.
Thank goodness Twain failed as a newspaperman. As an aside: failure, what I like to refer to as mistakes, is an interesting subject for parents to talk about with their children. For conversation starters on mistakes, refer to “Musings”, October 8, Boys & Reading.
A holiday menu that includes reading and talking makes for a memorable feast.
November 28, 2010
Reading and talking with children about what matters is a habit parents want to nurture and putting those conversations on a holiday menu is an opportunity not to be missed. The conversation can take many forms, the usual being a list of what, in our lives, we are thankful. The conversation can also take a […]
“Radical School Reform Law You’ve Never Head of”
November 14, 2010
“Radical School Reform Law You’ve Never Head of” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704462704575609781273579228.html shines a light on a California law, “parent trigger” which sanctions parents to either invite a charter school to operate a school that is failing or take steps to force the school to close, if 51% of parents sign a petition. I am all in favor […]
Who created this art and wrote marvelous stories for children?
November 13, 2010
Don’t go through parenthood or childhood without being on intimate terms with the stories and art of William Steig, who has to be, both a parent and a teacher’s new best friend. Read his stories, look at the pictures and enter a world you and your children will never will want to leave. Happy Birthday […]
Words that haunt: “For those left behind, a world of could-haves and should-haves.”
November 10, 2010
The Washington Post carried a story “A birthday party in VA. for a teen whose torment has ended.” read more>> The line that haunts me most in the recent story “A birthday party in VA. for a teen whose torment has ended” is “For those left behind, a world of could-haves and should-haves.” I am […]
