Mark Twain and Me

by Dorothy Quick

Samuel Langhorne Clemens and Dorothy Quick met aboard the S. S. Minnetonka in 1907. He was seventy-two years old, she almost eleven. The two began a great friendship that would endure until his death some years later. Dorothy became a frequent houseguest of Twain’s, both at his Tuxedo Park home, in New York City, and in Redding Connecticut. Her recollections of life in those places dispel the image of Twain as a man bitter and pessimistic in his later years, revealing him instead as warm and fun-loving. Together they read his stories, which she knew well and loved, and he encouraged her to write, forming the “Author’s League for Two.”

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 1961

About the author

Dorothy Quick was an American writer. She befriended Mark Twain in her childhood and he encouraged her to become a writer.

Reviews

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a certain charm, telling the story of Samuel CLemens and one of the little girls he befriended late in his life. It paints a very rosy picture of a man who by all other accounts was having some difficulties and was in fact embroiled in a major incident in his household. I've read quite a few books about this period and there seem to be camps regarding the Isabel Lyon issue. I find it odd that Dorothy Quick chose never to name her, referring to her instead as Clemens' secretary. It just makes me suspect she wanted to tell a simpler story than was real.

[Kathleen Murtha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is utterly charming! The story is so delightful it can be enjoyed by anyone, whether they are a Mark Twain fan or not. We see everything through Dorothy's eleven-year-old eyes -- her exuberant joys as well as her bitter disappointments and sorrows. Indeed, there are many times when you wish fate had been kinder to them both.