Investigating Mark Twain

Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 11.17.05 | 1:15 PM ET

Mark Twain fans will be interested in a piece in today’s Los Angeles Times. The story focuses on how the discovery of a cache of letters written by Twain’s daughters has prompted new theories about the role of women in his life and work.

It covers other topics, too, including the marketing of Twain—by Mark Twain himself. Writes Rebecca Trounson:

Trombley says she is still fascinated and amused by Twain, a man so gifted at marketing himself that nearly a century after his death, his name still evokes his white-haired likeness.

“That’s the image we have of him because that’s the image he wanted people to have,” she said, chuckling, during an interview in her Pitzer office. “And it’s been so co-opted, it sells everything from pizza to banks to luggage. You know, Twain and Elvis, two symbols of American cultural life that are just indelible.”