TRIBUTE TO THE AUTHOR

I have done more for San Francisco than any other of its old residents. Since I left there it has increased in population fully 300,000. I could have done more--I could have gone earlier--it was suggested.
                - undated letter quoted in Mark Twain: A Biography.

Nothing we can write here would be as profound or as memorable as what Mark Twain himself might have written. With that being said, we did want to share some information about the man as well as direct you to a few of our favorite websites that have extensive research, books and articles on Mark Twain (and even the ghost of Mark Twain who is a welcome performer at any special event).

Obviously, the Hotel Mark Twain is a tribute to its famous namesake author. And while Mark Twain did love San Francisco, he had passed away long before the hotel opened. When the hotel was first built in 1928, it was called the Linden Hotel and was renamed the Hotel Mark Twain during the great Depression. At some point, the hotel changed hands and renamed the Don but before long returned to the name Hotel Mark Twain and has kept the name in one form or another to the current day - even during the 1949 arrest of Billie Holiday, which has made room 203 #7 on the list of top ten famous hotel rooms - check out the articles by clicking here and at the same time you can see some of the nice changes to the hotel. For more details on Ms. Holiday's stay, check out the Mr. SF site by clicking here.

There is a lot of history and stories available about Mark Twain and a lot of it can be found in the Bay Area at UC Berkeley's Mark Twain Project. If you can't make it there, we thought you'd enjoy this little movie on Mark Twain.

FINDING THE REAL MARK TWAIN

So many people have taken credit for his famous quotes. But would you know Mark Twain if you saw him on the street? For fun, here are pictures of Mark Twain and look-a-likes. See if you can identify the real Mark Twain and then click here to see how you did.

LINKS

None of this can be possible without the resources available about Mark Twain, with a special thanks to Dave Thomson for allowing us to use his illustrations. For more information on Dave Thomson, please click here.

Need something clever to say? Try using

Need to bring Mark Twain back to life for a special event? Invite the Ghost of Twain.