Mark Twain

BETTER KNOWN BY HIS PEN NAME MARK TWAIN, WAS AN AMERICAN WRITER, HUMORIST, AND RIVER PILOT. HE HAS BEEN PRAISED AS “THE GREATEST HUMORIST THE UNITED STATES HAS PRODUCED”, AND “THE FATHER OF AMERICAN LITERATURE,” BUT HIS FIRST LOVE WAS BEING A RIVER PILOT. TWAIN WAS RAISED IN HANNIBAL, MO, WHICH PROVIDED THE SETTING FOR HIS NOVELS: ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER AND HUCKLEBERRY FINN. HE LATER SERVED AS A LICENSED RIVER PILOT ,WHICH INSPIRED MUCH OF HIS ACCLAIMED BOOK LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI. “I WISH I WAS BACK THERE PILOTING UP AND DOWN THE RIVER AGAIN. VERILY, ALL IS VANITY AND LITTLE WORTH -- SAVE PILOTING.”