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'''Samuel Langhorne Clemens''' (1835-1910), best known under the pen name '''Mark Twain''', was a great American writer and humorist. On his death, the ''New York Times'' wrote that "his personality and his humor have been an integral part of American life for so long that it has seemed almost impossible to realize an America without him.<ref>"His Countrymen's Tribute," The'' New York Times,'' April 22, 1910, p. 2</ref>  Mark Twain was famous as both a writer and a performer, having toured many years as a comedic lecturer. His cynical witticisms earned him a reputation as one of America's foremost personalities.

'''Samuel Langhorne Clemens''' (1835-1910), best known under the pen name '''Mark Twain''', was a great American writer and humorist. On his death, the ''New York Times'' wrote that "his personality and his humor have been an integral part of American life for so long that it has seemed almost impossible to realize an America without him.<ref>"His Countrymen's Tribute," The'' New York Times,'' April 22, 1910, p. 2</ref>  Mark Twain was famous as both a writer and a performer, having toured many years as a comedic lecturer. His cynical witticisms earned him a reputation as one of America's foremost personalities.

Mark Twain's personal religious views are debatable.  Publicly, he lampooned religion along with everything else, as expected in a cynical humorist.  Privately, on his serious side, he was a devotee of Saint [[Joan of Arc]], and even spent twelve years researching and writing a biography of her that he called his "best and favorite work":<ref name="Joan">http://www.stjoan-center.com/twain/atheists.html</ref>

Mark Twain was a devotee of Saint [[Joan of Arc]], and even spent twelve years researching (including traveling to France to access archives) and writing a biography of her that he called his "best and favorite work":<ref name="Joan">http://www.stjoan-center.com/twain/atheists.html</ref>

{{cquote|I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing. The others needed no preparation and got none.}}

{{cquote|I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well. And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing. The others needed no preparation and got none.}}

==Publications==

==Publications==