Mark Twain in Ohio

Ohio is not the first state you associate with Mark Twain. It's not the second, third, fourth, or fifth state you associate with him, given the claims made by Missouri, California, Nevada, New York and Connecticut. Still, Ohio does have many intriguing and important Twain connections. He gave lectures or readings from his works in fifteen Ohio cities. He planned on starting his married life in Cleveland, as part owner of a newspaper. And some of his most significant friendships were with Ohioans. They included early literary mentor Mary Mason Fairbanks, fellow writer William Dean Howells and President Ulysses S. Grant. Compiled by veteran Twain enthusiast and performer Mark Dawidziak, Mark Twain in Ohio documents the many times the writer visited the state. Featuring about twenty illustrations, this book includes excerpts from letters Twain wrote while in Ohio and the texts of lectures he delivered there. It's a breezy trip through the state in Mark Twain's company, with stops in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Akron, Toledo and many other Ohio cities. Along the way, there are passages about Twain's friendships with such other writers as Howells, Artemus Ward (Charles Farrar Browne), Bret Harte, Petroleum V. Nasby (David Ross Locke), Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) and George Washington Cable. Mark Twain in Ohio also details how Twain launched his epic round-the-world lecture tour in Cleveland in 1895, heroically beginning his successful attempt to literally talk his way out of bankruptcy. Mark Dawidziak's books about Mark Twain include M ark Twain on Writing (1996), The Shape of the River: The Lost Teleplay About Mark Twain (2003) and Mark Twain's Guide to Diet, Exercise, Beauty, Fashion, Investment, Romance, Health and Happiness (2015) . The television critic at Cleveland's Plain Dealer since 1999, he has been portraying Twain on stage for thirty-five years. He and his wife, Sara Showman, are the co-founders of the Largely Literary Theater Company.