A Letter to Abe Lincoln from Samuel Clemens

Dear Mr. President,

Mr. President, as a journalist, I have been closely following the developments on the war front. When do you perceive thing to wind down?  I've just finished a set of interviews of how the war has impacted families on both sides.  You and I both know that this war is over so much more than slavery. I know that your greatest concern is to keep the Union together and slavery is incidental to that.  My contention is that everything boils down to money in economics. 

I am so glad that I am not in your place.  I wish you well.  Give Congress a piece of your mind and stand up for what you believe in.

Respectfully,

Samuel Clemens

A Letter to Mark Twain

Dear Mr. Twain,

A couple of years ago I stopped by your house in Connecticut. Nice place. The room I remember most had a billiard table in it. I've also been by your home in Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal is an interesting lttle town, but I can see why you chose to move.

I love your acerbic wit--you and Will Rogers could have been best friends. I'm sure that at the time, people thought your wit to be impudent, but sometimes things need to be said.

I think that I should take the time to read Innocents Abroad. I've done some world traveling and would like to see someone else's take on travel.

As a journalist, you could get by with entertaining the unpopular. How did the Civil War impact your outlook?

After hearing about your place in New York City, and why you moved, I'm sure I don't blame you for moving. Having shot a ghost figure and seeing a large puddle of blood appear where there was no one, would serve to encourage a person to find another place to live.

I just wanted to let you know that it is so refreshing to hear someone say out loud what the rest of us are thinking.

A faithful fan.

Collecting Faces: Ralph

Ralph led a difficult life, characterized by the deep set lines mapping his face. His hands were knobby and worn with evidence of callouses from holding the implements he used to garden. He loved gardening. Seeing the tiny shoots of new life breaking through the soft, dark earth seemed to him to be evidence of a fresh start to life. Watching the plant grow and then blossom into a full-blown flower gave Ralph a sense of completeness.

Ralph was wearing his old suspenders, as he always did. More than holding up his trousers, they also gave him a holding on point when talking to the passing neighbor. His shirt sleeves were rolled to midway between elbow and wrist. The red flannel was beginning to show wear at the cuffs, so he rolled them.

The hat he wore was encrusted with dust. At one time it had been a fancy black fedora. Now it showed the passage of years and the sweat stains of a hardworking man.