Before I started hanging around with a group of folks who call themselves, "Twainiacs," (Cindy Lovell, Henry Sweets, Megan Rapp, Melissa Cummins, et al), my perception of Mark Twain was one of this acerbic, curmudgeonly, "pen dipped in hell" observer of the events of the day.

KHMO-AM 1070, News-Talk-Sports logo
Get our free mobile app

But, after listening to the Mark Twain: Words and Music CD, I became aware of Sam Clemens' deep and enduring love for Olivia Langdon, his wife of 34 years.

On the surface, Sam and Livy were truly an odd couple. According to an article in Smithsonian Magazine, she was the daughter of a wealthy coal merchant in upstate New York. Sam was a man of the west, growing up poor and knowing very well how to smoke, drink and swear.

In 1867, Sam became friends with Olivia's brother, who showed him a picture of his sister.

Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
loading...

It was love at first sight. For Sam, at least.

Within days of meeting Livy, Sam proposed. She said no.

He would later write, "She said she never could or would love me - but she set herself the task of making a Christian of me. I said she would succeed, but that in the meantime, she would unwittingly dig a matrimonial pit and end by tumbling into it."

Which she did. Sam did win Livy's heart and they were married in 1870.

Not only were they deeply in love, but Olivia became a proofreader and editor of all of Mark Twain's manuscripts. He observed that, had it not been for her, his most important books, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, would never have been written.

Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
loading...

He said, "I never wrote a serious word until after I married Mrs. Clemens. She is solely responsible - to her should go all the credit - for any influence my subsequent work should exert. After my marriage, she edited everything I wrote."

The Clemens' had a son who died of diphtheria at 19 months. Of their three daughters, Susy died of meningitis at age 24, Jean died of epilepsy at 29. Clara is the only one who lived to old age, dying at age 88.

Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
loading...

Olivia's health had always been fragile and she died of heart failure in 1904.

If you get a chance, get the Mark Twain: Words and Music CD and listen to Clint Eastwood's reading of what Mark Twain wrote hours after Olivia died. I guarantee it'll break your heart.

It was in the years after Livy died that Mark Twain, the biting social commentator we saw in Hal Holbrook's portrayals, came to the forefront.

Vintage Missouri Gas Stations from a Long-Gone Era

LOOK: Here are the 10 US golf destinations with the most courses per capita

Discover where you can find the best access in the country for your pick of courses, the unique terrain that lends itself to world-class golf, and what makes select clubs noteworthy.

 

More From KHMO-AM 1070, News-Talk-Sports