Legacy: The Artists Behind The Legends

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or as we have all come to know him, Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, publisher, lecturer, and entrepreneur active during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Viewed by many, including William Faulkner, as “the father of American Literature”, Twain’s recognition today typically stems from his two most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and the latter was said to be an absolute literary masterpiece. Even Ernest Hemingway declares in his work The Green Hills of Africa, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn”. In addition to these two novels, Twain received much international fame for his travel narratives, most notably The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, and Life on the Mississippi. What I find remarkable about Twain is just the expanse of his persona, being a gifted raconteur, a sharp and witty humorist, and yet incredibly driven in his morality…all this while becoming America’