Mark Twain

Mark Twain, author, speaker, public advocate for Justice and Social Transformation

While the world knows Samuel Clemens by his pen name, Mark Twain, and remembers him as America’s greatest humorist, his true and lasting legacy is that of a fearless social critic and progressive advocate. Wielding satire like a scalpel, Twain dissected the hypocrisy, racism, and imperial ambitions of America’s Gilded Age. Though he grew up in a slave state, his views evolved profoundly, culminating in his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The novel is a powerful condemnation of slavery, forcing readers to confront a society so morally inverted that a boy’s loyalty to his enslaved friend, Jim, is seen as a sin. Beyond his writing, Twain put his beliefs into action, famously paying for the education of one of the first Black students at Yale Law School. He was also an ardent anti-imperialist who fiercely opposed American military action in the Philippines and a vocal supporter of women’s suffrage and labor unions. Mark Twain weaponized laughter to make a nation look at its own reflection, ensuring that the most uncomfortable truths could not be ignored. And he was very funny and I’ll never forget this story about him: he came to an old woman on her deathbed who had called for his advice as her health was failing fast. Twain advised her to quit smoking, quit drinking and quit swearing. “Give up your bad habits and your ill health will improve,” he told her. She replied, “…but Mr. Twain, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I never swear.” He was heard to say, “Well, I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do for you, Ma’am. You’ve neglected your habits.”