Tags
fiction, inspiration, literary hero, mark twain, reading, writing
From where do you receive inspiration? For many of us, it may have been from something that happened many years ago. As a boy, I spent hours reading, much of it during study hall. I suppose reading is as good a way to learn as is studying a lesson in geography. I especially enjoyed adventure stories. I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and other stories by Jules Verne. I read Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. But my favorite stories were written by Mark Twain. I read about Tom and Huck, about the Prince and the Pauper, and about the Connecticut Yankee. He was and still is my favorite author. No one writes like him, then or now. His biting humor and natural storytelling are special.
I recall, sometime during my high school years, my father inviting me to a live show being held at the Municipal Hall, titled “Mark Twain Tonight!” This confused me, as I thought Mr. Twain already dead, so how could he be appearing tonight? Apparently those rumors of his death were indeed greatly exaggerated. I jumped at the chance, much like the frog from Calaveras County.
Upon being seated, to my delight, a white-haired man with flowing white mustache, wearing an all white suit, shuffled onto the stage, bowed, and then sat down in a rocking chair. I was mesmerized. When he spoke, I imagined for a moment that I was really listening to Mark Twain. The homespun humor, the puffing on the pipe, the lazy rocking in the rocking chair. As if it was just me and Mark Twain, sitting on a front porch in Hannibal, MO, on a hot and humid summer day. Outstanding! I later found out that the Twain character was played by actor Hal Holbrook. I didn’t care. My writing hero had come to life. I made sure to reread both Tom and Huck books shortly after the performance.
Fast forward 37 years and I found myself inspired to write. But where had my inspiration come from? Why start so late in life? I credit God for much of my inspiration, but surely some of it came from Jules Verne and Robert Heinlein, and the rest of the hundreds of authors I’ve read over the years. But I especially credit Mr. Twain. And a wonderful performance by Hal Holbrook who made my literary hero come alive.
What inspires you?