Mark Twain (1835-1910)
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A onetime printer and Mississippi River boat pilot, Mark Twain became
one of America's greatest authors. His 'Tom Sawyer', 'Huckleberry Finn',
and 'Life on the Mississippi' rank high on any list of great American books.
Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on Nov. 30, 1835, in the
small tow ....
Middle of paper
.... step toward his career as a writer. In 1857 he apprenticed
himself to a riverboat pilot. He became a licensed pilot and spent two and
a half years at his new trade. The river swarmed with traffic, and the
pilot was the most important man aboard the boat. He wrote of these years
in 'Life on the Mississippi'.
The Civil War ended his career as a pilot. Clemens went west to Nevada
and soon became a reporter on the Virginia City newspaper. Here he began
using the pen name Mark Twain. It is ....
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Page count: 3 (approximately 250 words per page)
