Friday, February 22, 2008
Joel Chandler Harris MADE Mark Twain!
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Historic Preservation, What Would JCH Do? // 12:32 pm
I’m sure you’ve often wondered (aloud, I hope) “How do Lain and Amelia write such inspiring, thoughtful blog posts day after day?” I’ve wondered that myself, truth be told.
Yet somehow, always, we have something to say! And today, the New York Times told me why.
I would like to make an enlarged poster of this lovely piece about the unique inspiration derived from visiting the homes of writers, and point to it whenever anyone asks why we preserve the house of a dead guy.
And even if we didn’t make this (high-rolling) list, we do have a pretty spectacular connection to one of the houses mentioned in the article. So awesome, in fact, I will tell you about it now.
Lain and I took a trip to see good-friend-of-Joel-Chandler-Harris Mark Twain’s house about a year ago. After being shown where JCH slept when he visited, Lain and I took the general tour. And what did we see in the room of Clemens’ daughters?
Nights with Uncle Remus!
The author of the article notes the inspiration he feels from seeing the homes where his literary idols drew inspiration themselves. Using that logic, Mark Twain was inspired by Joel Chandler Harris! JCH made Mark Twain!
Where are our royalties?!
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One of the regrets of my life is that when I was in Insurance School in Hartford I walked to the Twain home to find it closed.Wish that I had walked back to the house again. I did however do a walk around the building. What a magnificent place. I see us getting there.
Royalties? JCH made Mark Twain? A little strong, don’t you think?
Sorry about the ticket mixup during your visit to The Mark Twain House last year, but thanks for coming to us all the same.
You know, I’d love to see some Twain royalties myself…alas.
Great blog, and I hope to visit The Wren’s Nest some day.
Jeff Nichols
Acting Executive Director
The Mark Twain House & Museum
You can achieve this same sense of awe and inspiration by visiting The Marshall House in Savannah and staying in “The Joel Chandler Harris Room” up on the 4th floor. He lived there from 1870-1877 while working at the Savannah Morning News.
Esther LaRose lived there with her parents during that time, too. They met, fell in love and married - all right there at The Marshall House. The Marshall House MADE the Wren’s Nest!
Thanks Jeff!
As always on the Wren’s Nest Blog: it’s just jokes! We just like to toss around Mark Twain’s name so we can trick people into thinking we’re reputable.
Either way, you’ve got an enormous job over there and if you ever find time to visit the Wren’s Nest, I’d be truly impressed.
[...] There you go, folks. Joel Chandler Harris MADE Beatrix Potter. And Mark Twain. And The Office. And, kinda genetically speaking, Lain. The list just keeps growing! [...]