The Twain Shall Meet
New Zealand Listener|January 26 - February 1, 2019

The quotable writer’s New Zealand visit comes to the small screen.

Russell Brown
The Twain Shall Meet

In 1895, 60-year-old American Samuel Clemens set out to see the world. Not because he wanted to, but because even though – as Mark Twain – he had become one of the best-known writers in the English language, he was deeply in debt and needed to make some money.

So it was that, in what might be considered the colony of New Zealand’s first fling with celebrity culture, Twain arrived with his wife and daughter and spent 39 days on a feted speaking tour. His visit is wellrecorded, but, understandably, not common knowledge in 2019.

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