Mark Twain

 I would like to tell you about one of my favourite writers, Mark Twain.
Mark Twain was one of the most famous American writers, famous for his wit and wisdom, made evident in novels like "Tom Sawyer","The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," as well as his travel writings, essays, and letters. And I like his works very much!!!
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Mark Twain was born in Florida, Missouri. Sam was the sixth of seven children of John and Jane Clemens, with only two of his siblings surviving childhood; his brother Orion and sister Pamela.
When Sam was four years old the family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a small frontier town on the banks of the Mississippi River, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. Missouri was a slave-holding state. The family owned one slave named Jenny. Sam’s uncle also owned several slaves. Sam delighted in the spirituals and tall-tales told by Jenny and in the slave quarters of his uncle. This early influence would serve young Clemens well.
Sam was eleven years old when his father died in 1847. He left school in the fifth grade to work as a printer’s apprentice for a local paper. It was there, while setting type, that Sam got a taste for the news and a sense of the world beyond the small village of Hannibal.
At eighteen, Sam set out for New York and Philadelphia, working for several newspapers and getting some of his first articles published.

 In 1857, Sam embarked on his career as a riverboat pilot. Guiding a riverboat down the capricious Mississippi was no easy feat in the mid-nineteenth century. After two years of meticulously learning the ways of the river Sam earned his pilot license.
During his training, Clemons convinced his younger brother Henry to come join him on the river. On June 21st, 1858, the steamboat Henry was working on exploded, a tragic accident that killed Sam’s brother. Ridden with guilt, Sam held himself responsible for Henry’s death for the rest of his life.
He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which proved to be very popular and brought him nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well-received. Twain had found his calling.
He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.
However, he lacked financial acumen. Though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers, however, he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility.
Born during a visit by Halley's Comet, he died on its return. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age" and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature".