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Center For Mark Twain Studies
The Center For Mark Twain Studies is a cultural humanities site associated with Elmira College. The Center manages two historic sites, the Octagonal Study and Quarry Farm, where the American author, Mark Twain, composed many of his works, including his 1884 novel ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.'' The center also includes exhibits and archives. It administers research fellowships and delivers extensive programming, including lectures series, symposia, teachers institutes, digital resources, podcasts, and the quadrennial International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies. History and founding Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) first visited Elmira in 1868 at the invitation of Charles Langdon, a young man he had befriended during the Holy Land Excursion of the Quaker City (formerly USS ''Quaker City''), a pleasure cruise which Twain would soon turn into his first bestselling book, ''The Innocents Abroad'' (1869). During the trip, Langdon had shown Clemens as picture of his sist ...
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Elmira College
Elmira College is a private college in Elmira, New York. Founded as a college for women in 1855, it is the oldest existing college granting degrees to women that were the equivalent of those given to men. Elmira College became coeducational in all of its programs in 1969. The college has an enrollment of under 850 students. The school's colors, purple and gold, are seen throughout the traditional campus, consisting mainly of buildings of the Victorian and Collegiate Gothic architectural styles. The colors purple and gold come from both the banners of the women's suffrage movement and the iris, the college flower. Offered are about thirty-five major areas of study, each ultimately leading to either a BS or BA degree upon a successful completion of undergraduate studies. Students attend two full terms in the fall and winter and then enroll in a 6-week, intensive "Term III" in the spring. This gives students an opportunity to study abroad, intern, or take classes not related to t ...
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Leo Marx
Leo Marx (November 15, 1919 – March 8, 2022) was an American historian, literary critic, and educator. He was Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is known for his works in the field of American studies. Marx studied the relationship between technology and culture in 19th and 20th century America. Early life and education Leo Marx was born on November 15, 1919, in New York City, to Leo and Theresa (Rubinstein) Marx. His father worked in the estate sales business and his mother was a homemaker. He grew up in New York City and Paris; his father died when Leo was a child. He graduated from Harvard University with a BA in history and literature in 1941. Military service in World War II followed, in the South Pacific. Marx returned to Harvard afterwards and got a PhD in 1950, one of the first to be granted in the History of American Civilization. Career Marx taught at the University of Minnesota from 1949 to 1958 and t ...
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The Mysterious Stranger
''The Mysterious Stranger'' is a novel attempted by the American author Mark Twain. He worked on it intermittently from 1897 through 1908. Twain wrote multiple versions of the story; each involves a supernatural character called "Satan" or "No. 44". All the versions remained unfinished (with the debatable exception of the last one, ''No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger''). Versions The three stories differ in length: ''The Chronicle of Young Satan'' has about 55,000 words, ''Schoolhouse Hill'' 15,300 words and ''No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger'' 65,000 words. "St. Petersburg Fragment" Mark Twain wrote the "St. Petersburg Fragment" in September 1897. It was set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, a name Twain often used for Hannibal, Missouri. Twain then revised this version, removing references to St. Petersburg, and used the text for ''The Chronicle of Young Satan''. ''The Chronicle of Young Satan'' The first substantial version is entitled ''The Chronicle of Young Sata ...
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Jimmy Santiago Baca
Jimmy Santiago Baca (born January 2, 1952) is an American poet, memoirist, and screenwriter from New Mexico. Early life and education Baca was born in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, in 1952. Abandoned by his parents at the age of two, he lived with one of his grandmothers for several years before being placed in an orphanage. At the age of 13 he ran away and wound up living on the streets. When he was 21, he was convicted on charges of drug possession and incarcerated. He served five years in prison, three of them in isolation, and having expressed a desire to go to school (the guards considered this dangerous), he was put in the same area of the prison with the inmates on death row for a period of time before he was released. During this time, Baca taught himself to read and write, and he began to compose poetry. He sold these poems to fellow inmates in exchange for cigarettes. A fellow inmate convinced him to submit some of his poems to the magazine '' Mother Jones'', then edi ...
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Ben Tarnoff
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, אברהם בן אברהם). Bar-, "son of" in Aramaic, is also seen, e.g. Simon bar Kokhba ( he, שמעון בר כוכבא). Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin'' (بن), ''Ibn''/''ebn'' (ابن). People with the given name * Ben Adams (born 1981), member of the British boy band A1 * Ben Affleck (born 1972), American Academy Award-winning actor and screenwriter * Ben Ashkenazy (born 1968/69), American billionaire real estate developer * Ben Askren (born 1984), American sport wrestler and mixed martial artist * Ben Banogu (born 1996), American football player * Ben Barba (born 1989), Australian rugby player * Ben Barnes (other), multiple people * Ben Bartch (born 1998), America ...
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Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and screenwriter. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called '' Mark Twain Tonight!'' while studying at Denison University. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1966 for his portrayal of Twain. He continued to perform his signature role for over 60 years, only retiring the show in 2017 due to his failing health. Throughout his career, he also won five Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on television and was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in film. Holbrook made his film debut in Sidney Lumet's '' The Group'' (1966). He later gained international fame for his performance as Deep Throat in the 1976 film '' All the President's Men''. He played Abraham Lincoln in the 1973 miniseries ''Lincoln'' and 1985 miniseries '' North and South''. He also appeared in such films as ''Julia'' (1977), '' The Fog'' ( ...
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Russell Banks
Russell Banks (born March 28, 1940) is an American writer of fiction and poetry. As a novelist, Banks is best known for his "detailed accounts of domestic strife and the daily struggles of ordinary often-marginalized characters". His stories usually revolve around his own childhood experiences, and often reflect "moral themes and personal relationships". Banks is a member of the International Parliament of Writers and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Life and career Banks was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on March 28, 1940, and grew up "in relative poverty." He is the son of Florence (née Taylor), a homemaker, and Earl Banks, a plumber, and was raised in Barnstead, New Hampshire. His father deserted the family when Banks was aged 12. While he was awarded a scholarship to attend Colgate University, he dropped out six weeks into university and travelled south instead, with the "intention of joining Fidel Castro's insurgent army in Cuba, but wound up worki ...
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Ron Powers
Ron Powers (born November 18, 1941) is an American journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer. His works include ''No One Cares About Crazy People: My Family and the Heartbreak of Mental Illness in America''; ''White Town Drowsing: Journeys to Hannibal''; ''Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain'', and ''Mark Twain: A Life'', a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. With James Bradley, he co-wrote the 2000 #1 New York Times Bestseller ''Flags of Our Fathers.'' The book won the Colby Award the following year. It was made into a movie in 2006, produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Clint Eastwood. With Ted Kennedy, he co-wrote his memoir, ''True Compass'' in 2009. '' No One Cares About Crazy People'' was a finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. The '' Washington Post'' named it a Notable Book of the Year, and '' People'' named it a Top Ten Book of the Year. As TV and radio columnist for '' Chicago Sun-Times'', P ...
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Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the United States, culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV and/or the National Endowment for the Humanities and distributed by PBS. His widely known documentary series include ''The Civil War (miniseries), The Civil War'' (1990), ''Baseball (TV series), Baseball'' (1994), ''Jazz (TV series), Jazz'' (2001), ''The War (miniseries), The War'' (2007), ''The National Parks: America's Best Idea'' (2009), ''Prohibition (miniseries), Prohibition'' (2011), ''The Roosevelts (miniseries), The Roosevelts'' (2014), ''The Vietnam War (TV series), The Vietnam War'' (2017), and ''Country Music (miniseries), Country Music'' (2019). He was also executive producer of both ''The West (miniseries), The West'' (1996), and ''Cancer (film), C ...
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Following The Equator
''Following the Equator'' (sometimes titled ''More Tramps Abroad'') is a non-fiction social commentary in the form of a travelogue published by Mark Twain in 1897. Twain was practically bankrupt in 1894 due to investing heavily into the failed Paige Compositor. In an attempt to extricate himself from debt of $100,000 (equivalent of about $2,975,000 in 2020) he undertook a tour of the British Empire in 1895 at age 60, a route chosen to provide numerous opportunities for lectures in English. The first edition of this book was illustrated by Dan Beard, A.B. Frost, B.W. Clinedinst, Frederick Dielman, Peter Newell, F.M senior, C.H. Warren, A.G. Reinhart, F. Berkeley Smith, and C. Alllan Gilbert, many of whom had previously worked with Twain. In England the book was published under the title ''More Tramps Abroad''. American songwriter Jimmy Buffett mentions the book in his songs “Take Another Road” and “That’s What Living Is To Me”. Themes Throughout the novel, Twain use ...
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Louis J
Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (other) * Louie (other) * Luis (other) * Louise (other) * Louisville (other) * Louis Cruise Lines * Louis dressing, for salad * Louis Quinze, design style Associated names * * Chlodwig, the origin of the name Ludwig, which is translated to English as "Louis" * Ladislav and László - names sometimes erroneously associated with "Louis" * Ludovic, Ludwig, Ludwick, Ludwik Ludwik () is a Polish given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ludwik Czyżewski, Polish WWII general * Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961), Polish medical doctor and biologist * Ludwik Gintel (1899–1973), Polish-Israeli Olympic soccer player ...
, names sometimes translated to English as "Louis" {{disambi ...
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Justin Kaplan
Justin Daniel Kaplan (September 5, 1925 in Manhattan, New York City – March 2, 2014 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American writer and editor. The general editor of ''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'' (16th and 17th eds.), he was best known as a biographer, particularly of Samuel Clemens, Lincoln Steffens, and Walt Whitman. Life Kaplan was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Manhattan, the son of Tobias D. Kaplan, a successful shirt manufacturer in New York City, and Anna (Rudman) Kaplan, a homemaker. Both of his parents died by the time he was nine. "I spent a lot of time as a boy playing in Central Park and walking around Manhattan by myself," he recalled in a 1981 ''Boston Globe'' interview. He was raised by an older brother and the family's West Indian housekeeper, who taught him to cook, which later came in handy when his wife Anne Bernays turned out to be a self-described "domestic illiterate". A top student, Kaplan entered Harvard University at age 16, receivin ...
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