Mark Twain - The Early Years | Biographical Documentary

One of the best loved writers of all time, Mark Twain, had a tough childhood in rural Missouri and had to leave school at the age of 12 after his father died. He worked as a printer and then a Mississippi steamboat pilot before heading out west to try his luck as a silver miner in Nevada, where he found his true vocation as a writer.
His colourful descriptions of a new and evolving nation and the rollicking tales of his travels around the globe are full of his irrepressible humour, but late in life his optimism deserted him when he faced financial ruin and lost his wife and two of his daughters. His writing turned darker, and he developed a strange fascination with teenage girls.
In this biography of one of America’s most beguiling characters, we explore whether Mark Twain, the eternal optimist, became a bitter and twisted old man as some have suggested, or retained the cheery, light-hearted persona that produced the books that have entertained and enchanted millions for over 150 years.
Part One focusses on the first 32 years of life, with Part Two to be released soon.
Finding Out More
I found Ron Powers biography, Mark Twain - a Life to be detailed and comprehensive without being too academic. There are other biographies that provide different viewpoints on his life and Mark Twain’s autobiography, which is very entertaining, if not entirely reliable! I have listed some of the best of these on my Amazon Store Page. www.amazon.com...
Academic References
Amare, N., & Manning, A. (2017). The Mormon Entombed in Mark Twain’s Heart: Ina Coolbrith and Samuel Clemens. Mark Twain Journal, 55(1/2), 159-192.
Csicsila, J. (2018). The England Trip of 1872: Mark Twain's First Season in Hell. The Mark Twain Annual, 16(1), 1-10.
Gribben, A. (1972). Mark Twain, phrenology and the" temperaments": A study of pseudoscientific influence. American Quarterly, 24(1), 45-68.
Harris, S. K. (1985). Mark Twain's Bad Women. Studies in American Fiction, 13(2), 157-168.
Jones, A. E. (1956). Mark Twain and sexuality. PMLA, 71(4-Part-1), 595-616.
Richers, J. E., & Cicchetti, D. (1993). Mark Twain meets DSM-III-R: Conduct disorder, development, and the concept of harmful dysfunction. Development and Psychopathology, 5(1-2), 5-29.
Selby, P. O. (1980). Osteopathy and Mark Twain. Mark Twain Journal, 20(3), 24-25.
Copyright Disclaimer
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.
Images
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
Library of Congress
Mark Twain House and Museum, Hartford, Ct.
Internet Archive
Music
Louis Moreau Gottschalk - Le Bananier Public domain
Louis Moreau Gottschalk - Tournament Galop - Rampart Winds of the United States Air Force Academy Band Public domain
Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne op 32 no 1 - Constantin Stephan CC4.0
Arabian Epic music - World Music official - CC3.0
Luau, Hawaiian Ukulele Music - Mikecolemusic - CC4.0
Cowboy Sting Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensecreativecommon...
The Cow Boy Rag - Bobby Heath, Charley O'Donnell The Cowboy Rag
Claude Paul Taffanel - Wind Quintet in G minor -Andante -The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet CC2.0
Johann Sebastian Bach - Partita For Solo Flute, a minor (BWV 1013). Scott Goff, flute
Debussy Rêverie - Arr for Soprano saxophone and piano - David Hernando Vitores
Riding into the Sun Telecasted CC0
Bone Dry Telecasted CC0
Mark Gustavson A Fool’s Journey CC3.0
Ludwig van Beethoven - Octet The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet CC2.0
Growth/Decay Density and Time CC0
City Walk John Pattucci CC0 KZbin
Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.

[@TuckerSP2011]

Oh what a wonderful subject! One of the best writers that I have ever read. You're doing him great justice Professor!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@CliftonBowers-pc2xu]

​@djschumacher8012much are simular also are distantly related..Sharon is who would know a granddaughter to Suzie I belive ..😊

[@mrwaterschoot5617]

mark twain has been gone for a while. but he lives on as he is like Elvis recount that hal hholbrook did mark twain paisley as there are. impersonators. one mark Twain any time i see a white washed Pickett fene i think of the little rasvel 1950 show. with the kids raising mone white fences for money like mark twain wrote in some of his stories. as a child in elementary school it was manditory to read a mark twain novel. if samuel clemens were alive i believe in his story telling and i wold vote for him as president of america in 2024 . . he was old enough to know heter than our presidental fake news clowns . samuel is a good name like sam adams beer. billy currington rote a verse. god is great beer is good and people are crazy i will add samuel clemens is crazy good and young enough to care. i he and i might be of kindred spirits . if we were related i could call him uncle sam and we would way american flags.on a forth of july parade he was born in the usa and since i am a dutch born naturaled american. i can never be president. and i think that is a job that i would never want. ii heard it thru the grape vine that a president ages over 10 years in a 4 year term in office in office. the trumpster celebrated 78 year on rarth but add 10 years he is convict felon and over the is over capital hill. and a lost cause of fake news and out right lies. and as for mr biden he is smoking old at 81 he has a bad case of dementia on the brain as he keeps falling down. if i were a biden supporter i might .use miy mind as an empathic second grader and cmodify a jack and jill story to smoking ols joe biden and dr jill went capital hill to fetch presidenti powe. joe fell down and broke his crown and dr jill came tumbling after . ans the vie pres harris brought the watter from the washington dc swamp land.. mark twain also was quoted if you can explain something to a 2nd grader you have a good xunderstandibg of the concept or something like that. i guess story telling like a parody yooject on youe tube by don caron. you have to present the truth in a song or humourous way. i liked his series or the trump mess . like biden the want to build a border wall in texas to srop migrant farm woerkers from coming noth from mezico . i guess we still have an american mexican hat dance. tho oly thing a border wall makes a mess with our global relation toward the sratue of liberty values. bring us use workers for a land of opportunities and other challenges. .

[@macareuxmoine]

He surely was one of a kind 🥰

[@CliftonBowers-pc2xu]

@DMS1759 speaking of which I think the man they have sentenced 16 years I Russia is similar type of writer too..

[@stoobydootoo4098]

I could never fathom his work. Well, maybe twice I could.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Very good!

[@elizabethlinsay9193]

Clever!

[@actualkarenokboomer3158]

I read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn many times. I used to pretend to be Tom.

[@stardresser1]

Haha, well done!

[@elliepascoe5954]

Love this beautiful doc about Mark Twain!I grew up with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn❤🇳🇱

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@stoobydootoo4098]

Who are you? Oliver Twist?

[@TheLolapuff]

“When I get the urge to exercise, I lay down until it passes.” Twain

[@professorgraemeyorston]

So many witticisms!

[@mrwaterschoot5617]

a.nother thought if you do what you love?, you never work a day in your life. samuel closets . loved sinning yarns and

[@saraf9081]

Lol

[@2Uahoj]

Great video. Favorite Twain quote (on his return from Germany): Journalist: "Mr. Twain, do the Germans have a sense of humor?" Twain: "Yes they do, but it's no laughing matter." 🙂

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Good one!

[@elizabethlinsay9193]

Brilliant!

[@ginnylorenz5265]

Very interesting and entertaining. I like your calm voice, too. Thank you. I'm eager for part 2!!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Coming soon!

[@loriedmundson782]

Twain's daughter Suzy wrote a biography titled, "My Papa, Mark Twain." A must read for Twain lovers. Enjoyed part 1, and waiting with strained patience for part 2. Love you channel.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Coming soon!

[@susankeith326]

He has been my heroes since 2nd grade when my teacher read Huckleberry Finn alous throughout the entire school year. This was 40 miles or so from Hannibal, where I grew up. My dad was a towboat engineer. My now deceased best friend married a descendent of the Clemens family.Thankt so much for the film.

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

Can't recall when Twain wasn't font line news interrst to me. Still is. He's become imortal for those able to thirn̈k

[@SherryHill-k5y]

He most certainly had wanderlust but had he not, he wouldn't have written what he did or left us with his many quotes. Thank you so much for this post!

[@Leslie12.66]

It is great learning more about this famous writer. He did so much which he folded into his writing. Thank you!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@riomartinez79.]

Thank you, professor ❤this is a good way to learn American history. There is no need to pay for an expensive university. Watching and listening to your channel is PRICELESS ❤

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@baylorsailor]

Most universities today are a waste of money. It's become a money-making industry, and that's all they care about.

[@eileenbauer4601]

Very much enjoyed this presentation, lots of things about Twain I didn’t know before. From the mid 1980’s- early 1990’s my husband and I (Americans) lived in Switzerland. Just about all of our American ex-pat friends and we read Twain’s “The Innocents Abroad”.. Amazing how applicable and funny this book was even though it was written so long ago! We all used to laugh at some of the parts and how we had similar experiences. Twain was funny in a rather snide way, but at the same time making serious points. Fond memories……….

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I think that is the sign of a great writer that he/she remains relevant!

[@bretfisher7286]

My earliest memories of enjoyment in reading were made reading Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. I can still vividly recall my fascination with his exquisite prose. He began my love affair with language.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I struggled a bit with nineteenth century writing when I was younger, but love the elegance of it now.

[@bretfisher7286]

@professorgraemeyorston It's definitely an adjustment. Rather verbose, often. Really a different thing going on.. but on the whole, anyone publishing at that time had a lot more to offer from grammar and usage than half of our authors today. Good God, some of the nonsense that's out there now.. .

[@bretfisher7286]

@@professorgraemeyorston Looking forward to the second half, Sir!

[@chriswest8389]

My most magical movie viewing experience was at a kiddies matinae - Readers digest Huckelberry Fin. I remember being transfixed and transported to a time” so long ago”Harvey Korman as the King of France or was that The Dauphin, should have been nominated for an academy award.

[@doreekaplan2589]

Beautiful drawings

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Was it the Normal Rockwell Tom Sawyer illustrations you liked?

[@michaelfritts6249]

When I was in Junior High and my Dad realized that grounding me for "whatever" was a pointless and never-ending exercise, he started assigning books instead.. 1-3 depending on the offense with a timeline. I could go to the beach if I wanted but had to determine a balance.. I often went to the beach with a book. He would give me a "quiz" on each book afterward, Cliffs notes would not suffice, as he had read the books himself. Anyway, he suggested early on that I read Huck Finn every 5 to 10 years.. "You will get something new out of it every time.." Last time I read it was about 6 years ago.. I guess I may be "due".. 🤔

[@professorgraemeyorston]

And have you got something new out of it each time?

[@michaelfritts6249]

​@@professorgraemeyorston Yes! I saw Tom Sawyer in 1973 when I was 8.. it was Spring, and I went to school barefoot, cutoffs and t-shirt.. they called my Mom and by 10am I had shoes, socks, Sears Toughskins and a longsleeve flannel shirt to put over my t-shirt. Huck was one of the first books my Dad had me read. I was 12. Summer before 7th grade. He thought Tolkien was “bubblegum”.. he never read Tolkien. The first time, as a “dumb kid”, I felt it was now ok to use the “N” word.. it was literature! No.. it was a common colloquialism back then.. so my next book was Catcher in the Rye. Years have passed, lessons learned. My Dad read alot of James Michener, James Clavell and Leon Uris. Coincidentally, so did I. My Grandpa (Mom's Dad) was an early Wobbly organizer along with my Great Grandpa (passed when I was 5, age 100) in Onalaska, Washington. Grandpa wrote his “memoirs” and I helped him learn how to use a word processor when he was in his 90's. As the youngest of 4 kids, I assumed these had been given to my uncle or possibly one of my older siblings.. or my Aunt Donna who was more like a sister or cousin. My Grandparents fostered alot of children. Donna was a Makah (Native American). She passed from cancer 14 years ago. Anyway, my Mom recently found my Grandpa's “histories” and gave them to me. I knew that my GG Grandpa had volunteered in the 80th Indiana Regiment, but one of the stories my Grandpa wrote about was his Grandpa witnessing a slave being beaten for dropping a bucket of fish. Having shortly beforehand arriving with at least 3 brothers (kinda vague on that) from Ireland after their father sent them money for passage, those 4 joined the the Union army.. my GG Grandpa lost an eye at the battle of Perryville. Sorry… kinda rambling.. Each encounter with new “characters” Huck and Jim met along the way can be read as simple entertainment or (Twain would be amused, annoyed or satisfied) tales of moral and ethical dilemma's or just simple truths of human nature. I worked as a “page” at a local library when I was 15. I checked out his Autobiography. I chose not to return it but told the Librarian that I had lost it. I asked them if I should just pay for it or have the cost deducted from my paycheck. They did neither.. maybe because I could re-index the cardfiles and organize the microfiche in half the time as the other pages. I still have his autobiography.. 👍😏😎😁 Be Well!!! 😃

[@SherryHill-k5y]

Thank you so much! Your voice adds so much. Mark Twain left us so much food for thought-- which is rare among a lot of writers.

[@TedSawyer-v5o]

This just popped up on my KZbin feed. Very enjoyable so I subscribed.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Welcome aboard!

[@nonprofitgirl]

This is so well done! Thank you! Love from California 🌺

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jilkat25]

Where is Part 2? Please post a link. Excellent presentation! Love the typed quotes! Roughing It is one of my all time favorite books! When are you going to tackle Charles Dickens?

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Part 2 is coming soon! - I have done one on Scrooge which covers some of Dickens' life.

[@patmcstuff671]

I grew up in Illinois up the river about 7 miles from Hannibal, the river around here is beautiful and worth a visit, if u come please see the Mark Twain Cave

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I am planning a big US trip with lots of literary sites, so I'll add it to the list!

[@tombotelevision2616]

Knew the broad strokes of the Master's life.... enjoyed your insights in this video. Thank you.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@elizabethwallace7495]

Love Professor Graeme Y. Such a lovely manner.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@LB-id6wf]

Brilliant! We need to get you to the 100 000! Well done and lovely to see you today!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks Louise - likewise - not long until I get my 100k plaque from KZbin!

[@ElkoJohn]

Much obliged.

[@vanquocbui-e2d]

You make complex topics so easy to understand. 📚 Thank you for being an incredible educator!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

Love -'Twain'. He speaks to me over time - much like his good friend Kipling. Both proved Shakespeak was right. Nothing changes escept for cast and scenery. The script remains eternally the same.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Kipling is an interesting character - a bit underrated these days.

[@luv2sail66]

Very interesting. Thank you for posting this.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Americaone1]

The coldest winter i ever spent was a summer in San Francisco(Mark Twain)😀😀

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Good one!

[@cherylmaden5989]

I grew up in and around local bars( VFW's ,DAV's Moose Lodge 's etc) so as a teen and young girl I had many grown and older men as friends. Honestly it was like having a tribe of men as dads, uncles, or older brothers. I never understood people that thought it was weird. It never was, and I am grateful that they were a part of my life. The only people that find it weird are weird people 😊✨🖤✨

[@chris55529]

Great documentary, bro!!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks for listening

[@robertberger8642]

Very interesting! I look forward to listening to the rest of your accounting of Mr. Clemens’ life.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks for listening, it's coming soon!

[@granthurlburt4062]

Excellent. You have a marvelous reading voice. Great cadence. I recently listened to Vol. 1 of Twain's autobiography and am listening to recorded versions of the The Innocents Abroad and Life on the Mississisippi. The death of his wife and particularly one daughter really broke him up. Except for the damage it did him, it is almost amusing how he kept investing the money he had in inventions and projects that don't work. He had two great talents (at least) writing and lecturing- and yet turned to trying to invest in businesses for which he had no talent or ability. He was also taken advantage of by people who were publishing his work. Truly a great man. Too many don't understand the extent to which his description of Jim and Huck's attitude in Huckleberry Finn was an unequivocal condemnation of slavery and the notion that blacks were in any way inferior.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, it is sad how people miss his condemnation of slavery and focus on the n word and want to ban him.

[@voyaristika5673]

Looking forward to part ll. 👍

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Coming soon! Hopefully tomorrow!

[@peredavi]

Always love Professor Yorston’s wonderful calm and sober short history and biography lessons. Mark Twain is one of my favorite American characters. I lived near Virginia City ,Nevada, Reno for a time and enjoyed rereading some of Twain’s works. Now retired in Wyoming, I do enjoy reading about the more optimistic times in America, post civil war to my birth era 1960. I can only imagine what Twain would say of the buffoons in Washington DC at this time of Big Government,wokeness and bufoonery!

[@darlenelarochelle4011]

You had me until *wokeness* . I looked up "woke". It is not a bad thing. Looking ahead, try to do better, is not a bad thing.

[@peredavi]

@@darlenelarochelle4011 look into Gad Saad, professor evolutionary psychology. Wrote a book called ' The Parasitic mind" . The fact that students and professors at universities have to tread a narrow path and cannot speak their mind if they have a conservative view, else they will not gain tenure or they will be 'cancelled". This is not a good thing. Young people have been indoctrinated not taught to think.

[@TM-yn4iu]

Excellent, appreciated - waiting for next....but know the story. Sometimes a narrative about what we already know is entertaining.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@troydaum4728]

Love your channel and your superb breakdowns!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you like them!

[@saraf9081]

Love Mark Twain

[@nippynf4l831]

Wonderful subject!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Sally-y8s]

I loved this narrative.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@MBRMrblueroads]

Looking forward to part two 👍👍

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Coming soon!

[@jilltagmorris]

THANK YOU. Your content and narration is wonderful ❤😊

[@MsGaella]

Excellent. Thank you so much.

[@anahitpetrosyan1749]

Thank you very much, I subscribed the channel.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Welcome aboard.

[@D.H.-mg2cz]

As much as I'm enjoying your excellent content, I'm a bit scared when to expect part two, as I'm still waiting for the "Andy Warhol - the later years" video 🙈

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It should be out in a fortnight - the Andy Warhol Part 2 has been out for ages!

[@D.H.-mg2cz]

Gosh, I missed that... sorry, my bad!

[@starbright1256]

❤ thank you for information on great people. I learned many things i never knew. Im a subscriber to your great content. ❤

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, glad your enjoying them.

[@MylesNewman-cc1tx]

Twain was best buds with Tesla and got a thrill when lightning bolts danced around him. He claimed it also kept him regular.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He visited his laboratory often.

[@timfinneran5047]

Interesting - such an interesting character

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He certainly lived a full life.

[@CSchaeken]

Thank you Dr Yorston, I didn’t know a lot about this author, he had a very interesting life and I am looking forward to his later years.👍❤️

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Coming soon.

[@MrGMawson2438]

Very interesting indeed thank you Professor G Yorston

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@pofoto1950]

Excellent biography & I loved the old photos and especially the Mardi Gras parade video!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@AHLUser]

Oh What'ta Tease...!! "See Ya in Part 2".... Is this a Classic 'Cliff-Hanger' type ending or What...?? BTW, 'Part 1' is titled "The Early Years" and 'Part 2' is called "The Later Years"... Thank You Professor Graeme Yorston.... It takes a 'Good Chap' from Britain to tell the life story about a famous American Author..!! I appreciate your genuine interest in our 'American Culture'... Great Accent too.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed them!

[@lisaquigley-moon9583]

I read his books in school as a kid. They were great. Its sad they are not part of the reading curriculum now. The language was period & didn't make me want to use the language. They need to stop trying to hide history & great writings from these supposedly little fragile minds.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I agree.

[@doreekaplan2589]

He entertained teenage girls in lieu of so many lost family members including grandkids. He had no sons.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He had a son Langdon who died at 19 months of age.

[@ahbushnell1]

Excellent Video.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@sarasmith99]

You realize that Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are on the list of recently banned books?

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I know that there has been a lot of debate about whether they are "racist" or not, but I hadn't realised that they have been officially banned.

[@kambrose1549]

I wonder what witty response Twain would have made to this madness😂

[@geoffreyhall2034]

No this is so wrong

[@stuckinlodi100]

I suspect Twain might have been amused while Sam may have been outraged; or vice versa.

[@cindyhorn5786]

I wish people would realize history is important. It is crazy to try to change it by confusing and eliminating details. They shouldn’t be able to get away with this.

[@jamesthecat]

That was wonderful, thank you!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@petergaffney4915]

I moved into a new apartment in 1965 at 13. The previous owners left behind a complete set of Samuel Clemens' works. I read every word and reread parts. This will sound strange to his fans: Clemens never left his Know-Nothing cultural background. His constant stream of Adam and Eve stories showed his disdain for fundamentalist Protestants. Yet never having any real contact with Catholics he penned A Connecticut Yankee with a gut-level hatred for all those knights, bishops and priests machined gunned at the end.

[@omfug7148]

Professor can I give you a suggestion for a subject? I have been obsessed with Sylvia Plath since I was 17 but it isn't her mental health issues that I am interested in, that is a subject that has been written about for over 50 years and has been well covered, rather it is her husband British Poet Ted Hughes who I don't understand, 2 women committed suicide after he dumped them, after Plath he never bothered with fidelity again even cheating on his 2nd wife of 30 years, I think that we would call him a sex addict these days, I have read every book written about him and still can't get a grip on what made him tick, I will say that even the books that claim to be unbiased written about him do not paint him in a good light yet his children & many friends were devoted to him. Please give it some consideration.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I think Sylvia and Ted would both make good subjects - the difficulty is that the biographies are very partisan, so it is hard to know who or what to believe.

[@omfug7148]

@@professorgraemeyorston You might take a look at the last big bio written about Hughes by Jonathan Bate who claims that his bio is unbiased and is more concerned with Ted the poet, also the older biography, Her Husband written by Diane Middlebrook when Hughes was still alive, again, Middlebrook tried to be fair to Ted, even so, I found a great degree of honesty on what a complicated man he was. I honestly think that Plath's mental health issues are pretty straight forward--depression and similar disorders ran in her family, but apparently Hughes also had some of that in his family history. At any rate, 2 of the poetic giants of the 20thc, & fascinating subjects for a neuroscientist IMO.

[@gleneverett9728]

Outstanding

[@LLS710]

Funny how his experiences traveling through Egypt so closely mirror mine. Being related to Uncle Sam, I have to wonder if part of my take on Misr (Egypt) has a genetic component. Funny, intelligent, down to earth, and being very observant is a common trait amongst a lot of the men in our family line. My brother a year older than me looks eerily like Mr. Samuel, down to that scowl he had when he was a young man. My brother writes part time, has publish & I've been writing since I was 11 years old but my words are for me & not the world (except for maybe these words? LOL).

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Interesting - most personality traits have a genetic component so why not a sense of humour!

[@PaulSaether]

Enjoyed that, Prof. My favourite MT story was of the printer who abbreviated "Jesus Christ" to "J. Christ". When told by the angry clergyman who commissioned the pamphlet that "The Lord's name must never be abbreviated!" the printer obliged and set "Jesus H. Christ." Twain found that amusing and so did I.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

That's a good one!

[@AHLUser]

The name "Jesus" is a Greek version of his real Jewish name "Yeshua", which in English could be called "Joshua"... In India, where "Yeshua" most likely fled after his Step Father "Joseph" passed away, and his older Step-Brother James took over the Responsibility for the Family, his name was "Isa" which means "Lord"... He probably studied Yoga in a Ashram with a Guru, and learned his Buddhist-Hindu lessons (The Missing Years), before returning to his homeland to free the Jewish People from the 'Bondage of the Bible' and the Priests & Pharisees that controlled the Jews with Laws and Taxes. Ironic that he was Anti-Temple, Anti-Priest, Anti-Jewish Law, Anti-Statues, Anti-Robes and lived his life like Mahatma Gandi. He kissed men and women, believed that "Love & Forgiveness is the Answer"... Sounds like a Hippy.

[@ibbjos08]

Your editing is phenomenal.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, our editing is done by Manavi Sakunika.

[@tomroberts9794]

Thank you for your work on Twain.

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

'Mark' is all of the best of us and the rest of gentile humanity.

[@sarasmith99]

I think that "The Big Muddy" refers to the Missouri River and not the Mississippi.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Apologies - I was looking for nicknames for the Mississippi and that's what Google came up with - I should have double checked!

[@lilykatmoon4508]

I cannot wait for part two! I didn’t really know much about him at all prior to this video other than some of the stuff he wrote and his true name. He sounds like a bit of a hot mess, but a like able guy for all that. I bet he’d have a million followers if he were a KZbinr, lol! Fascinating video!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, yes he would have been great on KZbin! Part Two will hopefully be out tomorrow!

[@pamelacorbett8774]

Loved it!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@jacksalisbury-i5e]

I just read the book of MT s time in Hawaii, or sandwich islands as they were called in those days. His humor came though and I learned a lot of info about the whaling industry tied to Hawaii. It is composed of his letter to people while he lived in Hawaii. Good read.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I agree, his sense of humour is already well formed in these early writings.

[@PhilipCallicoat-k9z]

"Never do anything wrong if anyone can see you ".... The man was a true phenomena ..🤔

[@MrSuzuki1187]

The river you see at 4:02 in this video is NOT the Mississippi, it is the Missouri River. Note the swiift current, eddies and whirlpools. I grew up on the Missouri so I quickly recognized my old friend.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

My apologies, I found it very difficult to find stock footage of the Mississippi that didn't have modern boats.

[@whiskeymonk4085]

Any student of Thomas Paine is a friend of mine.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He was a fascinating man as well.

[@nonprofitgirl]

Amazing..

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks a lot 😊

[@bassandteacher]

AMAZING! Sounds just like Chicago.

[@pbarsamian526]

nicely done!

[@darrellborland119]

He was an amazing guy.

[@thomas1699]

I have read much of Tom Sawyer and Roughing It, as an adult. I have trouble putting Roughing It down, after I start reading. My wife always wants to know what is so funny. (The tale doesn't sound so funny when I tell it to her.)

[@professorgraemeyorston]

They're great books.

[@sylvias2062]

Excellent research and presentation as always but where have the smurfs gone?

[@professorgraemeyorston]

They'll probably make a come back at some point!

I know the Twain bio but I like the summery here. I say twain was a superior observationist which led to superior description abilities and this translated into humor that followed his experiences. He also, as said, must of had a above average memory and so maybe the spectrum of OCD and so on. I don't know. however his interpretations i of his obsevations find wanting. He was very wild in the west and said the folks on the trip overseas were very boring as being very Christian. he was seen , saw himself without undue arrogance, as one of the most intelligent men in America.Forgotten today. Also his winning stories today hide the stories that made him first famous and rich.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@chriswest8389]

He appears in chapter one of my yet to be written first novel.”Names Clemons. Samual” “Kids, we’re not in Kansas anymore”

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Sounds interesting.

[@chriswest8389]

@@professorgraemeyorston …Kansas? I thought you said you were from Connecticut…..” Could you give us a moment “ said Mz Avery”. “ I recon. You be adviced not to dadle though. Put some space between you and those yahoos. I’m headin to St. Louis then West for the territories.” Feel free to join me if you like. “ Could we have a family moment here said Mz. Avery? “ certainly mam. “ He tipped his cap and headed down the trail. Now Out of earshot Mz Avery said: “ Do you know who that was?”Laquise nodded her head.Dunk ,Julie and Dionne shook theirs. “ Mark Twain!”. Dionne fiddled with his mowhawk, Dunk stared into space. Julie was the first to speakOh yeah. That episode of Star treckvthe next generation I think it was called. That old white guy who’s sitting on someone’s front porch Whitling..” “ Whitling? “ said Dunk. “ whitling” replied Julie. She continued.” Dressed from head to toe in white except for a black tie or something with a big S hock of grey/ white hair and stash” @ yeah” said Dionne somewhat recoverd now”Cept for no glasses.and if you swint, a dead ringer for colonial Sanders”

[@chriswest8389]

@@professorgraemeyorston Coukdnt help myself. A work in progress.

[@ClaireJohnson-te4jd]

You have an exceptional channel!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@timhansen3376]

When I was growing up in the 60s. Everybody was making such a big deal about him.

[@analauraaznar1552]

Wait for part two ! :)

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Coming soon!

[@BDot-dv7lq]

Religion was born when the first con man met the first fool. Mark Twain.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Good one!

[@denisetulloch727]

Really intresting presentation. Where can I find part 2?

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It will be released soon.

[@BluMecker-of9uy]

Part 2! please

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It is Mark Twain - the Later Years.

[@jppalm3944]

Love him

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He was a great writer.

[@ccooper8785]

"I would not join any club that would have me as a member" hang on, that was by Groucho Marx.... Very much looking forward to part 2.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Coming soon!

[@MercyOnASinnerLikeMe]

Brian: "Did I miss anything while I was gone?" Chris: "Captain Crunch was here! Didn't you pass him on the stairs!?"

[@stephenmarmer543]

Very fascinating portrait of a great American. Do you think there is any indication that he had Bipolar-2?

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It is certainly a possibility, but I didn't get a sense of a cycling mood disorder from my readings, more a riotous youth and slow disillusionment with humanity as he got older. If I had to attach a label I would put my money on ADHD, but the evidence is far from convincing.

[@vijay-1]

Well narrated

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@mikemulrooney4824]

Good vid

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@JCPJCPJCP]

I suspect it's very American to think of oneself as "THE American."

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It's certainly very Mark Twain!

[@JCPJCPJCP]

Very Walter Whitman, too. Maybe even more so.

[@krysti2]

Very well done ✅❤🎉😊

[@giselematthews7949]

You got new bookshelves!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I had the whole room refurbished - still working out where to put things.

[@arliebattigbattig9726]

Im Canadian but I am also I descendant of Samuel Clemmons brother, in fact one of my brothers was named Clement

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Ow wow, Orion was an interesting character himself.

[@arliebattigbattig9726]

@@professorgraemeyorston one of my favorite Twain quotes is Don't let school spoil your education, l loved the rebel part of Samuel Clemons

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Completely irrelevant but at some point in future would you share your thoughts on Melville 's " Bartleby The Scrivener ".? Which remains one of the most thought provoking short stories of the last ( and even this ! ) century..!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Melville is on the list and I'll be sure to read this story.

[@tonyswatchchannel755]

This is excellent work. Thank you! Please carry on. Anthony Barbera _Author

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Lots more coming.

[@kennethjones500]

His greatest book written after 1867 trip to the holy land the innocents abroad research this book

[@marcschirmeister9821]

It’s worth noting that in Lucius Beebe’s 1954 history of The Territorial Enterprise “Comstock Commotion, there is a brief interview with Joe Farnsworth, who worked as a printer at The Enterprise in the 1890s, and had known a lot of the old timers on the paper. He had asked them about Sam Clemens, and related to Beebe- “From them I gathered the impression that Clemens was regarded as the prime s.o.b. of Virginia City when he was here. He was personally unclean; his mind and conversations were foul and he was forever trying to insinuate double meanings into his copy which had to be scrupulously read on the desk before it could go to the printer. He was notoriously a drink cadger and mean as cats meat when it came to setting them up on the bar. One old fellow who knew him well used a phrase I remember: ‘Mark Twain had no ear muffs on when somebody else was buying. He could hear a live one order a round three doors from where he was standing, but was deaf as a post when his turn came to shout.’ "The mean practical jokes that were arranged at Mark Twain’s expense were not good-natured gags. They were evidence that his associates thoroughly disliked him. A great deal of hogwash has been written in admiration of the man as a writer, but I never heard any admiration expressed for him personally by the men who knew him personally. The news that rumors of his death had been exaggerated was unpleasant news everywhere in Virginia City.” Make of this what you will.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Very interesting - perhaps not the saint he was later made out to be!

[@marcschirmeister9821]

@@professorgraemeyorston And perhaps his co-workers resented his success. To paraphrase Mister Dooley, who was a philosophical saloon keeper in Chicago’s Fourth Ward, “No man’s a hero to his fellow stable-mates."

[@grandcrowdadforde6127]

""When i wuz young, i believed everything... whether it happened or not "" M T

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Great quote.

[@GTMemes2]

' 🤔...I don't know why they call it common sense? When common sense ain't to common ' _ Mark Twain /Samuel Clemens

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Good one - like so many of his quotes - they are really quite profound!

[@kambrose1549]

I notice you pronounce Ina as aye na. Is that the English way? It's a popular name here in South Africa( A shortening of Catherina) and said eena.

[@mrwaterschoot5617]

i like to think mark twain setted down at his marj twain house i.n hartford vourant. one story that came uin with halleys comet and left swgen the comet came vaxk . he grew up from wearing vlue jeans or coverall. . his final years he wore a white suir will .. he loved his smoke sticks called xigarzzs

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Part two which tells the story is coming soon.