Torben Retboll - Teacher and Traveller: Mark Twain

The famous American writer lived 1835–1910. Here are some details about the final years of his life which are not so well-known

Part one

During the final years of his life, he had a falling out with his secretary Isabel Lyon (1863-1958).

For a while, they had a good working relationship. But then something changed.

He suspected that she was taking money from his bank account to support herself.

He had given her a house not far from his own. But when he suspected her of doing something wrong, he told her to give it back.

He also suspected that she tried to separate him from his daughters.

He wrote a manuscript of more than 400 pages in which he detailed his accusations against her.

But once it was finished, he stopped for a moment. He decided that maybe it was not a good idea to publish this right away. He left it for later.

The manuscript was not published in his lifetime. It was published in 2015, more than one hundred years after his death in 1910.

Part two

During the final years of his life, he became an anti-imperialist. Three events which happened around the year 1900 caused him to adopt this political point of view:

# 1. The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898

# 2. The Spanish-American war of 1898, which gave the US control over several former Spanish territories:

** Cuba and Puerto Rico which are close to the US mainland

** Guam - a small island in the Pacific Ocean

** The Philippines - an archipelago not far from the Asian mainland

# 3. The Philippine-American war 1899-1902

He was opposed to the policy of imperialism conducted by President William McKinley and his successor Theodore Roosevelt.

He wrote several short items in which he commented on the foreign policy of the United States.

In 1900, he joined the American Anti-Imperialist League. He was the vice-president of this organisation from 1901 until his death in 1910.

Mark Twain and several other important persons supported the league, but they were not able to stop the aggressive imperialism of the US.

Part three

During the final years of his life, he became a collector. He said he collected Angelfish. He said he had an aquarium with Angelfish.

What does this mean?

He established contact with several young girls who enjoyed his books and his company. He exchanged letters with them and some of them visited him in his home.

These girls were from 12 to 16 years old. They were not alone. When they visited him, they were always accompanied by their mother.

Why did he do this?

Perhaps he wanted to return to the time when he had three young daughters in his house. But now one daughter had died and the other two had already grown up. They were adults who were living their own lives.

One Angelfish was Dorothy Quick (1896-1962), who met him on the ocean liner SS Minnetonka in July 1907.

Towards the end of her life, Dorothy wrote an account of the time when she knew the famous writer.

Her book was published in 1961. A historical drama based on her book premiered in 1991. The title of the drama is Mark Twain and Me. When the book was reprinted in 1999, it had the same title as the drama.

The drama is fairly close to the real story, although some details have been altered.

One significant detail not explained in the drama is the fact that Dorothy Quick was not the only young girl who was invited to visit Mark Twain.

Several young girls had some contact and some connection with him during the final years of his life.

Scholars who have studied Mark Twain's private correspondence have identified more than ten cases of Angelfish.

Scholars who have studied Mark Twain's correspondence have asked themselves a question: did he do something illegal when he was collecting Angelfish?

Apparently, the answer is no.

The young girls were treated with respect and they were always accompanied by a parent when they visited him.

He did not try to hide the fact that he was a collector of Angelfish. Several photos were taken where he is seen with a young girl.

Even though Mark Twain did not break the law when he collected Angelfish, some people might still say it was a strange kind of behaviour.

REFERENCES

Regarding part one

A link: