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Symposium Review Club meets

Symposium Review Club meets

Posted: Friday, May 27, 2011 8:01 pm

The Symposium Review Club met recently in the lovely home of Martha Carol Nichols. Serving as co-hostess was Elizabeth Kendall. She served a delicious homemade dessert of tiramisu with coffee and tea.
The meeting was called to order by president Alice Dunlap. She welcomed Betty Ann Tanner, a lifetime member. There were 14 members present.
The officers for the new year will be president, Charlotte Erwin; vice president, Susan Fowler; and secretary, Diane Riley.
The spring meeting will be in May at Olivia’s in Martin. Hostesses will be Linda Jennings, Barbara Jones and Mary Elizabeth Nohsey.
Paula Chapman gave the program on Mark Twain.
Twain’s given name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He was born in November 1835 — the sixth of seven children — just as Halley’s Comet blazed through the skies. At age 4, his family moved to Hannibal, Mo. It was the west bank of the Mississippi River that later would provide the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
When his father died, young Clemens worked as a typesetter and a printer in various cities and also became a master riverboat pilot. After a brief stint in the Civil War, he headed west, took the pen name Mark Twain and became a journalist, writer and masterful public speaker. His inspired wit and satire earned world-wide praise from critics and peers and he was considered to be the funniest man on earth and a brillant speaker. He eventually authored more than 40 books; and befriended presidents, artists, industrialists and European royalty.
When he died April 21, 1910, Halley’s Comet was again blazing the skies.

Published in The Messenger 5.27.11