Mark Twain 2 June

On this day, 2 June 1897, following the erroneous publication of a premature obituary in the New York Journal, Mark Twain famously responded: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated". Mark Twain was perhaps America’s most important writer, indeed, Ernest Hemingway said: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. ...all American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.". He may have been right. One thing that is now widely forgotten is that many of Mark Twain’s works were suppressed for one reason or another. In 1880 for example he wrote "1601: Conversation, as it was by the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors." Which, was (and still is, in parts,) considered to be obscene: ‘In ye heat of ye talk it befel yt one did breake wind, yielding an exceding mightie and distresfull stink, whereat all did laugh full sore…. Lady Alice says "Good your grace, an’ I had room for such a thundergust within mine ancient bowels, ‘tis not in reason I coulde discharge ye same and live to thank God for yt….. so pray you seeke ye further."’ You get the gist. He lambasted religion in several suppressed works, most notably ‘Letters from the Earth’ and ‘The Mysterious Stranger’ - "It is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream - a grotesque and foolish dream…." Nowadays, Huckleberry Finn, much admired when he wrote it, is widely suppressed because it is perceived as racist. Perhaps he should have stuck to his other great skill, inventing. Who can forget his most famous invention - ‘An improvement in adjustable and detachable straps for garments’ (US patent US121992), which, to the ineffable relief of us all, hugely improved the keeping-up of trousering of all sorts, as well as securely anchoring various other items of men’s leg-wear. This magnificent invention works by means of numerous hooks, eyes, buttons and yards of elaborate elastic strapping. Mark Twain - Two fathoms deep.