Jean Little’s Spring Begins in March, for example, where Meggie pours her heart out to her older sister and her sister’s friend. They set up a schedule and a system and even help her train her puppy, whose misbehavior had been the last straw for Meggie.

And Judith Kerr’s When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, the scene when the family is living as refugees in France, and Anna is having a terrible time trying to keep up in school when she knows so little French. Her Mama takes her to a cafe and gets her a pastry, which is an unprecedented treat, and listens to her problems.

I don’t know why I like that little trope so much, but I do!

I wish you all the best of luck–it’s a tough job. And I do want you to know that we not only paid admission–but we gave to the endowment also!

I don’t want to get into defending exhibits or interpretations. Certainly I’ve read worse. Through pure serendipity I found myself in the position of executive director of the museum back in October 2008. We have many challenges, and I appreciate you taking note of our endowment needs. You probably realize we receive ZERO tax dollars. No city, state or federal funds at all. We care for 8 historical buildings, many artifacts, and are in constant need of funds to do so. Admissions and gift shop sales keep these buildings standing. Currently, Grant’s Drug Store is on Missouri Preservation’s Most Endangered Buildings list. When the Clemens family fell on hard times, they rented rooms there. This is where Sam’s dad died, which led to Sam leaving school and earning his own keep from that day on. Hard times affect us still.

I truly appreciate your comments and take them to heart. I also cordially invite you to return and let me show you some of Hannibal’s “not so neon-ized” Clemens sites – the family graves, the old cemetery that provided the scene for the murder of Doc Robinson, etc. This is a magical place, and our task to preserve Twain’s legacy is one we take very seriously. It is a miracle any of these buildings have been preserved, and as Twain fan I am deeply indebted to the handful of Hannibal residents who had the foresight to save them. Keeping them preserved is another matter…

Sam did not write his books here, the boyhood home is not lavish, and sadly, all of the Clemens family furniture is long, long gone. But Hannibal does have much to offer Twain fans. Did you note the exhibit on the Clemens family’s slaves in the kitchen of his home? This is an important part of the story we recently added.

I respectfully ask you to reconsider this phrase:

“For Twain fans, I highly recommend skipping Hannibal and getting to his home in Hartford, CT. Unless you truly enjoy the tacky.”

For those of us who work long hours to keep the doors open, a phrase like this hurts us to the core. Hartford is a wonderful destination, and all Twain fans should go there – often. They are blessed to receive far more financial support than we do, and we are happy for them. But real Twain fans should want to come to Hannibal and see past the parts they don’t care for, using their imaginations to conjure the people, places and events that Twain brought to life on the page. We hope they spring for admission (as you did – thank you!) and not just pose for a picture in front of the house (as most do – saying, “There. I’ve seen the house.”).

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts. I do hope you’ll return.

This is still true.

What I really dislike in movie adaptations is when they take English books and make them American (A Little Princess, Matilda) or make English characters American (Will Stanton in The Dark is Rising, Roland Michell in Possession, which is not a children’s book, but a good example). It does NOT work at all, at least for me.

and to make mom’s family even more interesting, we _think_ my grandfather was born around 1890. My other set of grandparents were born in the early 1920s.

The generations are interesting in your mother’s family. You are younger than me, but your grandmother was much older than mine (my grandmothers were born in 1925 and 1928).