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           Mark Twain read his own obituary in the paper

   Comedian Henny Youngman once said, “You know it’s going to be a bad day when you wake up and read your own obituary in the paper.”  Author Mark Twain could certainly attest to that.

  Early one morning in 1897, Twain arose and went downstairs to breakfast. He picked up the morning newspaper and was stunned at the headline. He sat slack-jawed and bug-eyed in disbelief. There, on the headlines of the paper, Mark Twain read his own obituary. 

     Fortunately, Twain was a humorist and saw the irony in all this. While he enjoyed a chuckle he was offended that the paper stated he died destitute in England. Although, his death made headlines in a few papers, there were some newspapers that weren’t so sure. Stories such as this obviously needed to be substantiated.  

    A leading wire service dispatched a reporter to Twain’s home to confirm the writer’s death. The reporter knocked on Twain’s door and was stunned when Twain himself answered. Twain issued an official statement; “A cousin of mine, James Clemens, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The reports of my illness grew out of his illness. The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

     During his remarkable career Twain earned a fortune with his books. Unfortunately, by 1894, he was bankrupt. This was due to a number of bad investments. He had lost approximately half a million dollars on a wide range of inventions. These inventions included steam generators, marine telegraphs and the Paige typesetting machine that was supposed to simplify the process of typesetting. Actually, it complicated the typesetting process. Without a doubt the most ludicrous of these investments was a machine that would enable Twain to speak to the dead. Losing money on these investments made Twain swear off investing in crazy inventions.

     Finally, one day he was given the opportunity to invest in an invention that had been created by Alexander Graham Bell. An invention called the telephone.  Twain was concerned that this invention, like all the others, would fail. He turned down the chance to invest in Bell’s invention and he lived to regret it. Years later when a phone was installed in his house, Twain shook his head in disbelief. This was the one that got away.     

    Twain was born Samuel Clemens in Hannibal, Missouri in 1835. As a young man, he went to work on a riverboat on the Mississippi River. When he began to pursue his writing career, he remembered a term that was often used on the riverboats. This term became his pen name. Whenever a riverboat begins navigating unfamiliar waters, it is necessary to measure the depth of the water frequently. This is to make sure the water is deep enough for the boat to safely navigate. A crewmember would drop a weight on a measuring string into the water. Once he got his measurement he would turn and shout to the captain the depth of the water measured against his marker. For example he might say “By the mark…20 feet!”  There was one term that always made a riverboat captain feel comfort. It was a term that was used when the water was very deep and there was no sign of danger. The term was “By the mark…twain!”

  This is an excerpt from a book written by Michael Williams entitled "Stranger than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse." The book is a collection of 50 strange and unusual but true stories. The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said "truth is stranger than fiction."

   The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.

Visit the Web Site www.strangerthanfictionnews.com.