A Tale of Two Writers

Or their writing retreats, really. Why is it that someone like Henry David Thoreau, notorious vegetarian and tea-totaler, should die of tuberculosis at the age of 44 (after a lingering three-year struggle with bronchitis), while Mark Twain, who it seems is NEVER seen without a cigar, and who lived by the motto "too much of anything is bad, but too much of a good whiskey is barely enough" should survive into his 70's only to be struck down by a heart attack the day after the perigee of Halley's Comet, a phenomenon that had also accompanied his birth 75 years earlier?

Don't have an answer for that one. I do know that Thoreau tried to live simply all his life, that he lived for his work, and that despite his famous assertion (in response to the question of whether he had made his peace with God) "I did not know we had ever quarreled," never really felt that his writing had received the recognition and praise it truly deserved. Twain, on the other hand, lived his life on the see-saw of "get-rich-quick" and impending bankruptcy, and that this often influenced the quality of his writing, and not for the better.

And I'm also fascinated by the places where they did their BEST work: Walden for Thoreau; Huckleberry Finn for Twain. The reconstructed cabin at Walden Pond is located adjacent to the Visitors Center near the parking lot, but you can (and should) also visit the site of the original cabin, and place a stone on the cairn there. Twain's "Writing Hut" is the original structure, but has been relocated to the campus of Elmira College in New York from its original site at Twain's nearby home at Quarry Farm, now used by the college as a retreat center for visiting Twain Scholars. Just looking at these photos inspires me to pick up my pencil and write. And I am SO looking forward to the not-too-distant day when I am back regularly in MY "writing study" at the Eastland Park Hotel...pictures (maybe) to follow....

Thoreau's Cabin (reconstruction at Walden Pond)

Thoreau's Desk


Thoreau's Bed


Mark Twain's "Writing Hut" (now on the campus of Elmira College)

Twain's Writing Hut (rear view)

Twain's Writing Hut in its original location.


The Author at his Work