Mark Twain. Which, as we all know, was the pen name adopted by one Samuel Clemens, the author of a couple of books that seems as if they were on every mandatory high school reading list back in my day, and certainly for years and years prior.
I doubt that they are anymore. If fact, one of them, Huckleberry Finn, is probably found prominently displayed on banned lists more often than not - people these days have no patience for the "unenlightened" manner of speaking of our forbears.
'Tis a shame - Tom and Huckleberry had a number of valuable life lessons to share, and before teen "literature" became all about witches and vampires, they provided stories of great adventure. And not for nothing, they painted an intriguing view into the world of the old riverboats that plied the waterways of the big Mississippi.
Having grown up in Cincinnati, itself having grown up back in those days and benefiting in no small way from the river commerce enabled by the big paddle wheels plying their trade on the Ohio River, I have always been aware of some of that history - it was simply part of the fabric of the city of my birth and development years. I even had a tiny role in my high school's stage production of Tom Sawyer. I think my only line was 'Ugh!', uttered as I was struck on the head with a grave stone.
When Don, patriarch of The Jackson Two, mentioned to me that there is a river boat museum not too very far from the airport at Gallipolis, a small-ish town on the banks of the Ohio, I figured it was just a matter of time before I made the trip to see it.
Much more here:
http://www.schmetterlingaviation.com...arrrrkkkk.html
Point Pleasant, WV
Linear Mode
